A Certain Virtual World Conquest
by Liuen
Summary: A new game shocks the world! Academy City launches the first VR game in history, boasting incredible realism and endless possibilities. There's a single premise: "Make it to the top", and no rules whatsoever! Furthermore, everybody can play for free! Magic and science cross paths once more, this time in a new world! Touma X Harem
1. Prologue

**Hey there! Nice to meet y'all. Author here.**

 **I wanted to clarify a couple things here at the beginning, just in case.**

 **This is the first time I'm writing a fanfic. In other words, I'm a rookie. I've got no experience at all. Also, English is not my first language. Meaning, there's gonna be lots of errors and mistakes everywhere, so if you see one, please point it out and go easy on me.**

 **I'm writing this for fun, and I don't intend to prioritize releases over anything that may happen in RL or over studies, so I won't have a schedule. I'll publish when I have time and chapters completed.**

 **Lastly, I have a general idea of where I want to make the story go, but it is rather vague, so I accept any kind of suggestions and ideas you may have.**

 **A warning before you read: I intend to use characters from up to the latest novel, and also from spin-offs, mangas and other formats. The characters or the narrations may mention events of any of the novels or manga. So if you have yet to catch up, you may be involuntarily spoiled. Please keep this in mind and read at your own risk.**

 **With everything said, I hope you enjoy the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Academy City. Situated at the west of Tokyo, it held a third of the total size of the capital. It was home to more than 2,3 million people, 80% of which were students. It received its name due to the high number of schools and academies that exist there. Besides the learning facilities, Academy City also had a high concentration of laboratories and research centers, which conducted investigations over a wide array of topics. Thanks to them, it was said that the city's technology was 20 to 30 years ahead of the rest of the world.

In the middle of this stronghold of science stood a certain building which, strangely, had neither windows nor doors. It was called the Windowless Building, and it was the residence of the person with the highest authority in Academy City, the Board Chairman of the Board of Directors. Inside the building, in one of the countless rooms, existed a cylinder which reached to the ceiling, connected to numerous cables, and filled with a red liquid. Floating upside down inside the capsule there was a peculiar human, who looked like an adult, yet also a child; like a man, yet also a woman; like a saint, yet also a criminal.

At the moment, his attention was centered on a screen which had just appeared in front of him, floating silently. A laughing voice could be heard through the room.

"What are you planning this time, Silver Star?"

That voice came from the speakers distributed across the area. At the same time, the screen displayed a smiling woman, seated in a dark chamber. She appeared to be 18 years old, and was dressed in a pink one-piece dress. She had crystal-white skin, clear blue eyes, and flowing, long shining golden hair.

Without changing his expression, the silver-haired man answered her.

"I would prefer it if you were to stop referring to me with that name."

"Fufu. Then, what business do you have with me? I refuse to believe that someone as important as the head of the science side would contact me without other purpose than a friendly chat. If it really is so, the you have really decayed, Aleister."

Crowley stood silent for a moment before finally giving his reply.

"Recently, the majority of my current ongoing plans have reached a standstill."

"You mean they failed?"

"Of course not. They have merely entered a waiting phase. The ones that have yet to reach this point are not nearly as many as they used to be, and are no longer enough to keep me busy. Thus..." He paused.

"I grew bored."

"Huh?"

"I have recently been conducting research on a completely unrelated topic with no other reasons than my own entertainment. A hobby, so to speak. That is the reason I have called you today."

Laura Stuart, Archbishop of the Anglican Church, one of the world's three largest religious denomination and Head of Necessarius, the Church of Necessary Evil, stood still, mouth agape and completely speechless.

And she began laughing uncontrollably.

"Ohohohohoho! You really were calling to chat! Fufufufu!"

While she tried to restrain herself, the human replied indifferently.

"It certainly is a rather amusing activity. If you have enough time, I recommend you pick up one." For a moment, the edges of his mouth seemed to curl slightly upwards. "For example, I could send you several of the best language teachers form Academy City. We could cover everything up as a language research project in collaboration with England."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because, in all honesty, your Japanese still sounds too strange."

"Bffagh?!"

"I'm amazed nobody called out to you about it before. That's why I'm suggesting to disguise it as a hobby. Maybe something like research about how archaic dialects merge with modern ones and the impression it gives to unrelated parties. Language research is part of psychology, so it falls under our specialty area. I'm sure nobody will find it that strange."

"W-Wait. I don't want nor need something like that. My Japanese is not that odd! I even had Kanzaki help me with it! Besides, what proof do you have?! I demand facts!"

"Without going far, your attempt to laugh graciously earlier was a complete and utter failure. At risk of using foul language, it was creepy. Was that some kind of parody of a stereotypical high-class lady's laugh? It gave me the impulse to use the Archetype Controller to erase the concept of nobility and aristocracy in the world in order to prevent anyone from hearing something like that ever again."

"It was bad in the magnitude of using a world-changing trump card?!"

Completely defeated, Laura spoke with teary eyes.

"So? What is the real reason for your call?"

"As I told you, I happened to pick up a hobby. It gave me an idea to start a side project, completely unrelated to any of the relevant ones. I seek your cooperation to make it more stimulating."

"That certainly sounds interesting. Do please explain."

"Here."

A document appeared on the device Laura was using to conduct long-distance communication between London and Academy City.

"Let's see... Sculpting? I never imagined you would be one to be interested in art... But it doesn't seem too difficult to realize. I don't know if the science side has developed technology to physically manipulate light to that level yet, but it is fairly easy with magic... And the moonlight part wouldn't pose a problem either. In fact, you don't need our help at all if it is only something to that extent."

"My apologies. That was not the actual project, but the hobby that inspired it. I wanted you to take a rapid look to it to understand what is it about. This" another document, much longer and complex replaced the first one "is the real project."

Laura rapidly skimmed through the text, and as she progressed, a small smile grew on her face.

"Wow, you never cease to surprise. Count me in. However, I have a small condition."

"What is it?"

"Change its name. Psychology may fall under the science category, but even I know that something called "Side Project" won't sell."

The next day, the videogame industry experienced a revolution.


	2. Chapter 1 - Beginnings

**Hey there!**

 **New chapter! I was able to publish it pretty fast this time because I already had it half-written.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 1 - Beginnings

Morning arrived early in a student dorm where a certain unfortunate boy resided. The alarm of his phone rang, a hand rose and, after searching for a bit, turned it off. With a grunt, a spiky-haired teenager rose from his tub.

Yes, tub.

Due to certain circumstances, Kamijou Touma was sharing his dorm with a number of freeloaders, one of which had taken over the bed ever since she arrived. Incidentally, that same freeloader was the reason why he had to get up so early. That girl, known as Index Librorum Prohibitorium (which, truth be told, was a rather odd name) had a never-ending appetite and a black hole for a stomach. Furthermore, she also had an extremely short temper in regards to food, a very sharp collection of teeth, and a surprising and deadly amount of jaw strength.

Now, how was this related to the reason Kamijou had to sacrifice hours of sleep that he could never hope to regain? The answer was very simple. It was because the combination of those traits possessed by Index headed to a certain scenario which he wished to avoid as much as possible. In order to do that, he needed to have food prepared by the time she woke up and asked- no, demanded breakfast. To cook everything necessary, time was required, and so he had to wake up early every morning to make sure Index did not woke while he was still in the middle of preparing the food.

Kamijou washed his face, changed into his school uniform, exited the bathroom and headed for the kitchen while being careful not to make too much noise. However, it seemed it was loud enough for another of the local residents to awaken.

"What are you doing, human?"

"Oh, Othinus. Good morning."

This was the second of the freeloaders who were currently living in Kamijou's dorm. She was someone who had mastered magic and stepped past the realm of humans and into the territory of gods, but she had lost her powers and ended up becoming 15cm tall.

"I don't think it will be any good for you. Why are you up so late?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You forgot?"

An unpleasant premonition started to assault Kamijou, but he did his best to push it to the back of his mind and maintain a nonchalant expression.

"Forget what?"

"Well, it isn't like it concerns me. Do your best to survive."

After leaving behind such an ominous sentence, she headed back to sleep. Othinus' words probably intended to make a strong impact, but Kamijou found himself having problems to be conveniently scared due to the words coming out of a pink-colored doll house.

He tried recalling for a few seconds whatever Othinus said he had forgotten, but he wasn't able to, so he shrugged and headed for the kitchen once more. He then opened the refrigerator, and his breathing caught in his throat. He abruptly remembered what the miniature magic god had been talking about.

Yesterday, he had been chased around all afternoon by a short-tempered lightning-throwing esper, arrived home exhausted and had forgotten to buy groceries. Since he was tired, he decided to make dinner with what he had in hand and wake up earlier than usual the next day and go to a convenience store.

That series of events led to a single, unavoidable fact.

The fridge was empty.

In the middle of that life-threatening crisis, Kamijou's experiences surfaced and his mind started to frantically think about the best course of action which would let him escape his fate.

Let us go over a fact. Kamijou Touma was someone who had overcome the battlefields of Russia, the various combats in Hawaii, the hell of Baggage City, and the frozen plans of Denmark. He was an individual who possessed a vast amount of experience about surviving desperate situations. Making use of it, he was able to come up with a plan that proportioned the best possible odds.

"Index isn't awake yet. In that case, I should retreat here. She won't be able to do anything if I am not in her range. But, leaving her to starve is not good, the retribution will increase exponentially to how much hunger she feels at the moment, so I wouldn't be able to come back. There's also the possibility that she would leave the dorm on her own if she cannot endure... In that case, once I'm out I'll immediately go buy food and come back, an offer it to her before she has the opportunity to attack. Since she will be at her limits she will concentrate on it instead of me, and once she is full, I'll be able to pacify her. That's it! Hahaha! The plan is perfect! Don't underestimate this Kamijou-san who has already been living with Index for months!"

Now, let us go over another fact. Kamijou Touma was a misfortunate person. His homework would be blown by the wind the moment it was finished, only to fall in a fountain to become unreadable, it would rain whenever he did not bring an umbrella, his toast would inevitably fall to the floor with the jam side face-down, and he would get caught in random incidents ranging from back alley thefts to world-threatening crises. He was the most faithful follower of Murphy's Law. In fact, Murphy himself would have been scared silly had he known to which extents that boy had taken it. So, what happened next didn't surprise him much.

"Touma?"

Index, wearing her night clothes, lazily raised her head from the bed. Her eyes darted around the room until they suddenly froze in place. She kept staring at the same spot, processing the information her ocular nerves were sending her. Kamijou, somewhat cautiously, followed her line of sight. He despaired.

She was looking at the fridge, which was still open.

The empty fridge.

Since the situation had developed to the point of no return, any idea of escape was now useless, and the dreaded scenario that Kamijou had wanted to avoid no matter what, known as _Touma! There's no food! Chomp, chomp, crunch_ was inevitable, Kamijou could only sigh, hung his head in defeat and mutter:

"Such misfor- GAAAAAH! SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

* * *

Some time later, after escaping the clutches of a hungry nun (he ended up having to go buy breakfast and promise extra-large special dinner), and rescuing a Magic God who, perhaps out of sympathy, decided to share his fate and also ended in the fauces of a hungry beast, by feeding said beast (who was actually a calico cat, and the third and last freeloader of the residence); Kamijou was walking to school with his blond classmate and neighbour Tsuchimikado Motoharu.

"So, I have been watching this series recently. It was so good that I bought all the seasons up to now after waching the first few episodes and marathoned them the same day they arrived."

"That good? What is it about?"

"An epic tale of magic, fate and love! The hero sets on a journey to eradicate the forces of evil who threaten the world! With nothing but his resolve and his passion, he fights demons, dragons and evil sorcerers, all the while trying to escape the tragic destiny that the Goddess herself prophesied! And, of course, captures the heart of all the ladies he comes across! Oh, the ladies, Kami-yan! I think I have not seen such variety ever since Aogami's room! Tsunderes, kuuderes, derederes, yanderes, childhood friends, maids, teachers, imoutos, onee-sans, nuns, priestesses, warrior girls, ojou-samas, village girls, mikos, sempais, kouhais, dragon girls, samurai girls, meganekkos, librarians, princesses, devils, angels, goddesses!"

"Wait a second. How in the world are there senpais and kouhais in a world of sword and magic?"

"That'd be a spoiler, so I'm not telling."

"Haaaaaaaaaah?!"

"Hey, guys!"

Aogami Pierce, the third and last member of the idiot trio, had catched up to them from behind.

"What's up?"

"I was telling Kami-yan about _Epic Tale of the Dark Hero."_

"Oh! That is one awesome story! You gotta watch it too when you can, Kami-yan. It has got almost as many types as your harem. Have you seen the latest episode?"

"Of course nya~ The imouto was adorable as always!"

"You're right, but I think the yandere priestess stole the show this time."

"Can't argue with that."

"So what happened?"

""Not telling, that'd be spoiler (nya~)""

"WHY YOUUUUU!"

* * *

"Hey, check this!"

Once they reached their classroom, Aogami aproached his two friends' desks with his phone in hand.

"What's that?"

"Arisa-chan's new comercial. Her popularity skyrocketed since she was chosen as one of the public faces of the new game. Not that she wasn't popular before, what with her singing in the space and everything. That's why I told you before, right? You have to support an idol since the beginnig, before she becomes famous! Then you can brag to others that you knew it all along!"

"Arisa... she's doing quite well, huh."

Kamijou thought aloud while watching the screen, where a pink-haired girl could be seen holding some kind of metallic bracelet and smiling, while a song sounded in the background.

At this moment, a face with closed eyes and piercings in the ears appeared dangerously close to his own.

"You know, Kami-yan..."

"Y-Yes?"

Noticing the edge of danger in his friend's voice, Touma stiffened a little before answering with an awkward smile.

"Just know, you sounded like you knew Arisa-chan personally. Have you met her before?"

"Wh-Whaat? Haha, of course not, it'd be impossible right, I mean, she's an idol and all..."

While Kamijou shifted around uncomfortably and avoided eye contact, he caught a glimpse of Tsuchimikado. He was grinnig.

"But I saw you together nya."

"Shut up you nyanya bastard!"

"I knew it! Kami-yaaaaan! Why won't you ever leave any girls to us!" Aogami pounced on Kamijou and attempted an uppercut.

"I said that I don't know her! He's lying!" Kamijou sidesteped and tackled Tsuchimikado.

"She was~ in your appartment nya~ and she sang~" Tsuchimikado jumped to avoid Touma, but met with Aogami's second charge and tumbled to the ground.

"WHAAT! She sang for you! That's a major flag for every idol rute! Good job, man! But now I wanna beat you up even more!" Aogami threw off Tsuchimikado and pulled Touma's leg, making him fall to the ground like the other two.

"She sang? Damn, I missed that! Such misfortu- NO!, I mean, Tsuchimikado, stop bullshiting me!" The idiot trio grapled trying to get the upper hand against the other.

"An idol..."

In a corner of the room, a girl whose presence was rather thin with long black hair, and who probably would have looked good in a shrine maiden's outfit, muttered to herself before giving a small nod.

"Makes sense. Idol's are one of the most popular routes, it would be strange if he didn't unlock it."

"Himegami, stop it with the galge comparisions! And you three, WOULD YOU KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!"

The idot trio's sheningans were immediately smashed apart with the arrival of the Iron Wall girl, who ruthlessly headbutted each of them, before pounding them to the ground. Luckily for them, they were saved from further physical punishment with the arrival of a petite figure with pink hair who made her way to the teacher's desk.

"Alright class, everybody get ready, we're about to begin!"

Tsuyukomi Komoe, the class tutor, waited for all students to be seated and silent before continuing.

"Sensei has bad news for you. It has been decided that today we will take a break from our regular curriculum, so to those of you who anticipated it, bad luck!"

Immediately, the roumbling sound of chairs and even a couple shouts of joy were heard.

"Of course, that doesn't mean that we will do nothing today, and you're in no way exempt from class."

The roumbling of chairs returning to their original positions was heard again, this time accompanied with mutters of annoyance.

"By the way, everybody who just tried to leave will have to win a game of Blind Poker before being allowed to go home."

""""Whaaaaat!?""""

"Kamijou-chan, you too."

"Geh?! B-But I did nothing this time!"

"We will use this opportnity to catch up with all the sessions that you missed on because you didn't come to class."

"SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

* * *

"Sensei!"

"Yes, Fukiyose-chan?"

"What are we going to do today? No, before that, what was the reason today's lectures were suspended?"

"Today sensei will be giving you all an introduction of the new classes for your curriculum. Sensei will also answer the doubts that you may have when we're done explaining. But before we start, Fukiyose-chan, could you help sensei give one of these to everyone?"

Komoe took out a plastig bag filled with bracelets, which Fukiyose took and started to distribute to the students of the class.

"Everyone listen, I'll give a fast introduction before we start. Has everybody heard about _Conqueror's World SP_?"

 _Conqueror's World SP_ was the name of the new game Academy City had recently developed in conjunction with other foreign superpowers. It caused worldwide excitement to professionals and common people alike, for very good reasons. For scientists, it was one of the few pieces of complete technology that were yielded by Academy City. For people from the game industry, it meant a whole new world of possibilities for the future.

Also, Academy City did not limit itself to just the annonucement of the game release date, it created a publicitary campaign of enormous magnitude to popularize it. For example, it asked idols such as Meigo Arisa or Hitotsui Hajime, and other renowned personalities like Lindy Blueshake and Beverly Seethrough to become beta-testers, and released videos and interviews of their experiences. This, coupled with more traditional methods like adds and TV comercials, made the public go haywire with excitement. The last straw was the announcment that it would be proportioned for free to everyone who wanted to play. It was definetly the most anticipated game in history.

"Even if this time Academy City let other countries participate, we still were the major contributors to the development of the game. And, like every other project, there is a reason so many funds have been invested in it. Besides being a tool for entertainment, it also doubles as a massive experiment to gather data on brainwaves and thought patterns. Has everyone recieved their device?"

"""""Yeeeees~""""

"Don't take them out of their wrappers yet. As sensei was saying, _Conqueror's World SP_ is also an experiment to gather data from around the world. But, for you students who are undergoing the Power Curriculum Program, it has one more function. That is why the devices you have just recieved are somewhat different from those that the people outside Academy City will recieve."

Touma looked curiously at the shiny metallic bracelet wrapped in plastic. A couple desks away, Aogami raised his hand.

"Sensei."

"Yes?"

"The game was scheduled to be released tomorrow, was it not? Why are we getting it now?"

"As sensei said, for you who are students of Academy City, the conditions are slightly different. Sensei is sure that you will like them."

Komoe smiled when all people in the class looked at her in anticipation.

Just when she intended to resume talking, deafening cheers came from the classroom next to them. The students were confused, but Komoe merely smiled.

"As sensei was saying, the reason it is different for you is because from today on, playing the game, will in some part replace the curriculum."

""""Huh?""""

"That device connects to the game. It allows people to play by constantly reading brainwaves, processing them and executing the intended actions. At the same time, it also sends information countinuously about the world's state directly to the mind of the user. These devices are special because they can adjust the waves to some extent so that, while you play, you also advance in your power development. Of course, it doesn't cover all of it, so you will need to keep going to your scheduled sessions, but they will not be as extense."

Everybody was silent, processing the somewhat hard to believe words they had just heard. And then...

""""UUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!""""

Cheers that didn't lose in intensity to the other class erupted spountaneously. After a couple minutes, another class joined in, and another, and another... soon, the whole school was cheering as loud as they could.

"YAHOOO!"

"IF THIS IS A DREAM, DON'T EVER WAKE ME UP!"

"VIDEOGAMES BANZAAI!"

"PLAYING GAMES IS NOW HOMEWORK! THE NEXT ERA IS HERE!"

"IS THIS THE SO-CALLED LIBERAL EDUCATION?!"

As the students celebrated, Komoe also raised her voice.

"Everyone! Sensei knows you're excited, but you must remember something. It's okay to play outside of the assigned session time or during your free time, but don't forget to do your regular homework properly. If you do not, you will fall behind, and sensei will cry. Please calm down!"

After some time, the class started to calm down under the repeated urges of their teacher and a bit of "help" from the Iron Wall girl, until they finally fell silent again.

"There are more good news for you. Sensei knows that you are all impatient to begin playing," all the students nodded eagerly with shining eyes "then you will not have to wait! The reason Sensei said earlier that there wouldn't be classes today is also because of this. Since playing is considered a school activity, we teachers will give you instructions and introduce you to the game."

"Huh? Sensei, could it be you have already played? Are you one of those beta-testers?" asked someone.

"That's not right. Yesterday they reunited all the theachers after school and showed us how to play, so we could in turn could teach the students. It happened in all schools in the city. Anyway, are you ready to begin?"

""""Yeees!""""

"To start, put on the bracelet you have recieved."

Touma tore the wrapper and observed the device. He noted that it had the same shape as the one Arisa had been holding in the video, but the color varied. Hers was pink with a pattern of musical notes, while his, and for what he could see everyone else's, was a plain metallic silver.

Shrugging, he adjusted it on his wrist. It surprised him how light and comfortable it was.

"Okay, now you don't need to do anything, just stay put for a minute while it syncronizes itself with you. By the way, once a device has been linked nobody else will be able to use it. To make it easier to recognize, you can customize it later, but don't lose it, okay? They are difficult to make, so if you don't take good care of yours and ask for another one it will take some time to get it."

A minute soon passed while everybody was busy examining their new accessory.

"Okay, everyone! Enough time has passed. We will begin now. To access the game, just concentrate a bit and think "Access". It will be a bit difficult at first, but you will get it fast. Also, before you start, adopt a comfortable posture. Think about it as if you were going to sleep. Once you have "crossed", don't worry about anything. There will be someone waiting for you. Sensei will wait for you here."

Some of the students raised their heads at that.

"Huh? Sensei, you're not coming?"

"Sensei will look out for you here. When you are playing, it's like you are sleeping, so you won't be able to react if something were to happen. That's why," her voice adopted a strict tone "you always have to play in a safe enviroment. If you don't, something bad may happen to you.

Okay, you can begin now. Sensei hopes you enjoy it and learn a lot of things."

Kamijou put his arms on top of his desk and placed his head on them. Then, he concentrated on the word "Access". Nothing happened. He raised his head in confusion, and saw that he was not the only one having problems. Other students, including Tsuchimikado and Aogami, were also furrowing their brows and looking around. However, some people had their eyes closed and appeared to have fallen asleep. At that moment Komoe's voice was heard.

"Don't worry if you don't succeed on your first try. Close your eyes, relax and concentrate. Sensei will cheer fo you."

Touma once more adopted the same posture as before, closed his eyes and tried to relax, all the while thinking about the keyword. After a couple minutes, his mind had completely calmed. He gradually began to fall uncoscious. He panicked a bit, but couldn't do anything to stop it and his mind sunk into darkness.

* * *

 **Aaaand there. Next time, they will finally enter the game for the first time. I will also introduce some of the basic mechanisms and rules.**

 **See ya!**


	3. Chapter 2 - New World

**Hey there!**

 **Since some people asked questions in the reviews, I'll try to answer them here. However, I won't answer important questions which would spoil the plot.**

 **javier: el anime del que hablan Aogami y Tsuchimikado me lo inventé. Ganará importancia en el futuro.**

 **Guest: I don't really know what you saw, but I try to fix small mistakes when I see them, so maybe something really changed.**

 **Mythfan: if you're talking about Arisa, then yes. Kinda. Look the wiki or watch the movie for more information.**

 **That'd be all. Thanks for the support messages. Then without more delay, here's the new chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 2 - New World

Just as fast as his awareness had disappeared, Kamijou returned to his senses. With a startle, he opened his eyes. He took a look around to situate himself.

What first entered his eyes was the color green. Green leaves, green bushes, green weeds. He was in a forest. He found himself seated, with his back supported against a tree. Most of his classmates were lying around just like him, but some of them, presumably the ones who had crossed before him, were already up stretching or looking around with curiosity.

At this point, he realized that he was no longer wearing his school uniform, but rather some kind of simple clothes, brown in color, and with a cheap feel to it. The rest of the students were dressed in the same style, though it varied a little between boys and girls.

"AAAAAAAHH!"

Suddenly, a horrified scream rang from a nearby tree. Most of the students turned to look, only to find the back of a yellow-haired teenager running away from them at top speed, covering his face with his robe.

"Tsuchimikado?"

Kamijou tilted his head in confusion. The Tsuchimikado that he knew was someone who would maintain his cool even in the direst situations. The only time he had seen him so altered was during the Agitate Halation, when he had been forced to fake his sister's death, but it didn't seem likely for her to be there. Even if she, by some coincidence, really appeared in that same time and place, this was after all just a game, so the security of the players should be guaranteed or it couldn't have been sold.

Kamijou gulped. What could have made him so fearful? Maybe some of the monsters typical to rpgs had appeared? Or maybe an extremely scary individual was lurking around? Tsuchimikado was a magician, so he must've had methods to detect danger that an amateur like him could not hope to match. He tensed in preparation for a battle and tightly clenched his right fist.

Meanwhile, the rest of his classmates had finished waking up. It seemed everyone had successfully accessed.

"Good, is everyone here already?"

A loud voice inquired. The students turned once more to see a tall woman with blue hair tied in a ponytail arrive.

"Yomikawa-sensei, are you the one Komoe-sensei said would be waiting for us?"

"That's right-jan. I will be in charge of giving you the basic instructions to survive in this world."

"S-Survive?!"

"Ok, everybody please pay attention here. We'll begin now."

Touma, who was still looking in the direction Tsuchimikado had run to and worrying about potential threats, sighed and decided to let it go for now. It was not like worrying would make any kind of difference. He turned around, ready to take Yomikawa's lesson. And his jaw dropped.

Yomikawa Aiho was someone who always wore a green track-suit, as corresponding for a P.E. teacher. Touma recalled also seeing her with an Anti-Skill uniform when she was working, but he did not remember much. He was more preoccupied with a giant earth golem at the time, so he had the most impression of the track-suit. Coupled with the casual pony-tail and her kind an easy-going character, it gave other people a careless impression, but also an intriguing sexy feeling, that made her one of the most popular teachers in school.

Right now, she was not wearing her usual attire, but the same kind of robes as all of them. Her nice proportions and large breasts were more than enough to fill them nicely, and the double impact of her curves along with the difference in clothing made the surrounding male audience gulp.

"Oh my god…"

"G-Gap moe! This is gap moe!"

"A-Amazing... they're going to burst..."

Meanwhile, the girls watched the boys with cold look in their eyes and sneaking an occasional jealous gaze to their teacher's chest.

"That's our teacher for you. That kind of wild charm of an unmarried woman is unmatchable. But I still prefer imoutos anyway nya~"

At some point, Tsuchimikado had come back and was standing besides Kamijou and the rest of the class, donning the same garbs as the others and her usual glasses.

"Oi, what happened? Where the heck did you go? Is everything okay?"

"And that's not all. Look there."

Completely ignoring the questioning of his friend, he pointed in another direction. Kamijou turned to look, and saw that a couple hundred meters away, there was another group of students from another class, crowding around another teachers and making the same expressions as the people from his class.

"What? Another secret beauty revealed herself? Could it be that our school had some kind of secret conspiracy to hide beautiful teachers between our staff and never revealing them?"

Aogami had arrived and stood beside them, gazing in the same direction. At that moment, the crowded shifted and they caught a glimpse of the person standing in the middle.

Oyafune Suama was a teacher they knew well, since she was often Komoe's replacement when the latter could not assist to impart her lectures for some reasons. She also was in charge of scolding and dispense punishments upon the Delta Force. Her major trait was that she was obsessed with beauty, and tried hard to look so, using make-up, selecting suitable clothing, and taking care of her hair.

However, upon traveling to this game world, her make-up was gone, her clothing replaced and her hair down, and even her glasses had disappeared.

"What the heck? She's cute."

"Agreed. Especially with how she is fidgeting and blushing."

"I bet she's conscious about her appearance. You know, she always has this air of always being serious and looking perfect and everything and now she lost it all in an instant."

"Guys... I think we may have discovered paradise."

While such conversations sounded between the students, the other group also became aware of their presence. They threw some curious glances in they direction, spotted Yomikawa, and gaped simultaneously. After a few seconds of absent-mindedness, the boys looked directly at them and, with a solemn look, raised a thumbs-up. The idiot trio, along with the rest of the male members of their side, also put on solemn expressions, raised a thumbs-up, and nodded. Without need for words, they reached an understanding.

* * *

"Ok! Time to begin the explanation."

Yomikawa gathered once again the attention of the students. Then she scratched her cheek a bit embarrassed.

"Though, even if I say that, I've no experience with games or the like, so I will just tell you what I was explained yesterday at the meeting and you'll have to figure out the rest. It's not like they gave that much information anyway-jan.

According to the person in charge of the explanation, the first thing to say to avoid misunderstandings is that this is not an rpg, whatever that is. There are no levels, stats or skills. To be honest, I didn't get any of that, so I'm just repeating it from memory. I'm an outdoors person, videogames are not my thing-jan."

Even if she herself didn't understand, her pupils did. Some of them leaked out voices of disappointment. Unperturbed, she continued.

"In other words, the guys who made this wanted to make it as lifelike as possible, so they tried to keep the game elements to a minimum-jan. The only thing that you differentiates real life and this is this thing."

At some point, some sort of card had appeared in her hand. She brandished it in front of her and continued to explain.

"I've been going around in this zone since yesterday and, barring the clothes and the whole medieval setting thing, this is the only thing that is definitely different form reality. I could explain you how it works, but it would be easier to just show you. We'll have to get going for a bit before that, though."

She paused and looked around, looking at Oyafune. She received a nod of confirmation indicating that she was also done explaining.

"We'll go to the town first and get one of these for each of you, it will be easier to explain then. Follow me."

She turned around and started walking without waiting for anyone. The students hastily went after her, and soon after the other class also began to walk in the same direction as them.

* * *

"Basically, all of the game runs on something called the "Title system"-jan."

Yomikawa explained as they walked. They were now on a stone-paved road. It did not take them a lot of time to each from the point were they initially appeared, as it seemed the first time anyone connected they would appear in a rural area so as to no congestion towns and cities, but not too far from them. They had reached the road in less than 10 minutes and were now walking to the nearest town, something that, according to Yomikawa, would only take about half an hour.

"Titles are the most important thing here. They reflect everything. What are your abilities, your accomplishments, and the organizations or groups you belong to. And the tool that you use to check on them is this." She flashed them the card that she showed them earlier.

"For example, I actually have three titles. They are [Shield Master], [Teacher: A Certain High School] and [Lieutenant: Anti-Skill]. The first one is a title that reflects an ability or skill, wile the second and third ones are the organizations I'm affiliated with-jan. You will also probably also obtain a title like [Student: A Certain High School] or something very similar to that. Oh, we've arrived."

Immersed in the explanation, they had unknowingly made their way to their destination. Yomikawa walked ahead of them and went to talk with the gatekeeper, and Oyafune followed short after. Touma took advantage of the pause to take a look at the city walls.

They were pretty tall in his opinion, but he had no standard to compare, and he was definitely not a wall expert either, so he might have been mistaken. They seemed to encompass the whole settlement, and gave off a solid impression. He wondered what they were meant to defend against. At that moment, Yomikawa signaled them to come over and they passed under the gates.

The class strolled across the streets at a casual pace, and enjoying the scenes they were not used to. The game had a medieval setting, that much could be said just by looking at their clothes, but it became more obvious now that they were in an actual village. The buildings were made of stone, and most of them didn't have more than two floors. People traveled mainly on foot. For them, who were used to the modern Academy City, all of these were refreshing sights.

At last, they arrived at their destination. They were in front of a big building, probably the tallest they had seen so far. However, in contrast with it's big size, it's design did not seem complicated, and it gave a rather simple impression instead. It was made almost entirely of stone, with little windows and a plain-looking door.

Yomikawa stepped forward once more, approached the door and knocked. Not much time had to pass before it opened and an old lady appeared. Her age was obvious looking at the wrinkles of her face, and she wore a kind and friendly expression. She was wearing some kind of tunic, light brown in color, and sandals. There was a symbol over her chest, embroidered in white silk, which resembled a drop.

She greeted the teacher with a smile.

"Your name was Yomikawa, was it not? We have been waiting for you. Are these the youngsters you mentioned?"

"That's right. They're my students-jan. Aren't they cute? I'll have to bother you to help them."

"It's alright, it's alright. It is our duty to lend a hand to those who need help. Have you explained everything to them?"

"Not yet. I was planning to after they experienced it once."

"I see. Let's not unnecessarily waste time then."

She stepped forward until she was directly in front of the students and raised her voice.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Helen, and I'm the one in charge of managing this branch of the Church of Self-Sacrifice. We will proceed now with the initiation rite. Please, line up in seven rows."

Both classes had questions, but obeyed nonetheless. With the help of the two teachers organizing, it did not take even a minute to accomplish the task.

Meanwhile, Helen had gone back into the church and came back. The students were a bit puzzled by her actions until they heard her asking Yomikawa.

"I would like to use this opportunity to let our novices get used to performing the rite. The goddess predicted that a lot of people would arrive in the near future who will require of our help, and they are still young and inexperienced. Some of them have rarely ever left the convent and interacted with people. Since they are more or less the same age as your pupils, I thought it would be good for them to get used to it, but since it would be their first time, it may take more time for each person. Is that okay with you?"

"We don't mind."

"I'm grateful for your consideration."

She turned around and made a sign towards the door. Immediately, six figures stepped out in succession.

The boys eyes brightened once they were revealed themselves. They were girls who, as Helen had said, seemed of the same age as them. They were also wearing the same kind of tunic as her, with the same design of the drop engraved on their hearts. But, none of that was what attracted the boys attention.

Whispers broke out among the male students.

"C-cute!"

"This is seriously bad! First the teachers revolution and now this!"

"Whoever designed this world is a genius!"

"Not a genius, but a man. A man amongst mans."

"Kami-yan! It's the advent of the tropes! The aggressive red-haired tsundere tomboy, the black-haired and kind onee-san, the lively underclassman with twin-tails, the shy Yamato Nadeshiko with zero experience with men, the expressionless ice queen, and the blond drill-haired ojou! If you conquer them all you can start your in-game harem right away!"

"What are they, nations?! Also, stop shouting! They'll hear you!"

As opinions were exchanged, each of them approached a row and stood at the front. The old lady did the same, and headed for the longest one.

"Step forward one by one and stand still in front of whoever is in charge of your line. Then, relax and follow the instructions. Begin."

The firsts in line did as told while Yomikawa and Oyafune watched from the sidelines. Once they arrived in front, Helen and her six initiates placed a finger on their forehead, and starting chanting something in a low voice. The person Helen was in charge with released a faint glow for a short moment. The priestess took a step back.

"Next."

It quickly became obvious that she was far more skilled than the other six girls. By the time the first of the them finished and the student released the glow, she already had the fourth person in front.

Little by little, the number of students on whom the rite had been performed grew and the lines decreased. When the old lady finished, she went to help girl with drill hair, who seemed to be the one with the most problems.

And then Kamijou's turn came. He advanced until he faced directly against the one in charge of his line.

It was a girl who looked younger than him by a year or two. She was shorter than him, so she had to turn her head upwards to look at his face. Her hair was black, and it flowed down straight to the middle of her back in a princess cut. She also had dark eyes, white skin, and a beautiful face, and her cheeks were slightly red.

In other words, she was incredibly cute.

"Umm, please lower your head a bit!"

"Oh? O-Oh, sure."

Kamijou snapped of the momentarily blanked state in which he had fallen and did as he was told. She raised her hand, placed it on his forehead, closed her eyes and started chanting.

After about a minute, she appeared to have completed the chant, she opened her eyes and looked at him. Touma's body started to glow, but the faint light was abruptly stopped along with a high-pitched sound that somehow resembled that of glass breaking.

Startled, she stared at him, with her mouth agape. When Kamijou asked "Is something wrong" while tilting his head, she grew flustered and vigorously shoock her head.

"I-I'm very sorry! Something must have happened and it seems the rite was not completed correctly. U-Um, if you could lower your head once more, I'll try again..."

"It's okay, don't mind it."

Kamijou talked soothingly to calm the panicking girl and smiled kindly. He then lowered his head once more.

Receiving the double attack of the calming words and the approaching smiling face, the girl blushed furiously.

"Tch, it's Kamijou again. That bastard."

"I knew it! How does he even do that anyway?"

"Ohh! Starting with the easiest conquest! Not bad, Kami-yan! Not for nothing they say war and love are the same, so it was possible to use war strategies that way too. As expected of you."

Blatantly ignoring the obviously defamatory comments that started flying behind his back, he smiled wryly and scratched his cheek.

"Umm, if you don't mind, could you please start? This is kind of embarassing."

"Ah, yes, of course! I'm sorry!"

Still blushing, she once more touched his forehead and chanted. The result was the same. The glow that was starting to appear was cut off and disappeared with a high-pitched sound of glass breaking.

"What's wrong?"

In the meantime, Helen had finished helping the drill-haired girl and also took care of the line were the red-haired one was in charge, so there were only four lines remaining. She had come over sensing some kind of disturbance.

"Kamijou! You're causing trouble again?"

Yomikawa also approached with an angry expression.

"I did nothing! Absolutely nothing! Surely you won't also blame me when I have nothing to do with whatever happened, right? Right?!"

"U-Umm! Helen-sama, this person did nothing. It is because I am incompetent that the rite failed twice. I am sorry, please forgive him!"

"See? See? I did nothing! It's because she's incompe- wha? No, it's okay! Don't worry! Rather, if what you're doing is magic, then it's not your fault at all. More like, it's because of my right hand..."

Though his words at the end were barely whispered, they weren't missed by the old priestess, who looked at him with furrowed brows.

"It seems he has some kind of special constitution and the usual rite is not working. I'm sorry for asking, but would it be okay if I borrow him for a moment?"

"Hmm? Well, I don't mind, but we have somewhere to go after this, so it's okay as long as it doesn't take too much time-jan."

"Thank you. Alex and Lily, take over Nora's line from here. When you're done, help the other three. If by the time you're finished with everyone I'm not back, distribute a card to everyone and explain them how are they used. You two" she looked at Kamijou and the shy-looking girl, whose name semmed to be Nora "come with me."

After giving instructions in a firm manner, she turned and started walking without waiting for them. Nora soon followed. Watching the swiftly retreating back of the old lady, Kamijou sighed. His first day playing and he already ran into trouble. With no other options, he started following behind her towards the door to the church.

"Such misfortune."

* * *

 **To be honest, I already had the next scenes planned, but if I included everything in a single chapter, it would be too long. Next time, I will go a bit more in-depth with the title system.**

 **See ya!**


	4. Chapter 3 - Explanations

**Hey there!**

 **Here we are again. This took longer than expected, but oh well. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 3 - Explanations

The interior of the building was different than what Kamijou expected. Looking from outside and considering its great size, he figured that it would be similar to the other grand catholic churches he remembered, with a single great hall divided in smaller sections by use of columns.

He had instead, since entering, been following after Helen and Nora through a stream of small rooms. Each was barely big enough to accommodate the three of them at the same time, and usually had more than two exits, so he felt like he was navigating a labyrinth.

"We're here."

After walking for a few minutes, they arrived to a room that was obviously different compared to all the other ones. It was several times bigger, and it also had almost twice the number of doors, so Kamijou deduced that it was some sort of central area.

Taking a look around, he noticed that the walls, instead of rising vertically, were instead ascending at an angle, colluding in a single point. In other words, the height of the room grew the farthest one was from the origin of the walls, and it reached its peak in the center of the chamber. There was a single shrine exactly under that point, but besides that, the hall was devoid of any furniture. It gave off a solemn and somewhat majestic air.

"Young man, please come stand directly in front of the altar and don't move. Nora, do it again. I want to observe what exactly happens."

"Ok."

"Y-Yes!"

Kamijou did as ordered, walked a bit rigidly towards the shrine, and stood there. Nora approached him and, just as before, reached her hand towards his forehead. He closed her eyes and she chanted. Soon after, the sound of breaking glass resounded and he opened his eyes again.

"Hmm. Let me try."

Helen walked towards him and did the same. Though the chanting was considerably faster, the end result did not change.

"I see."

Apparently satisfied, she backed off a bit and looked at him with an intrigued expression. Kamijou returned the gaze with a stiff smile.

"Um, H-Helen-sama, what happened? Why does the rite not work?"

"I have a few theories about what happened, but first, young man, would you like to explain? It's obvious from your expression that you know something."

"Ah, no, you see, it's my hand, it-"

(Wait. My right hand? If that rite they are talking about is something magical, then it is obvious it would interfere. But this is supposed to be a game. No matter how realistic it is, I should not have this kind of ability... But it is obviously working. Heck, even the sound effect is identical. What's going on here?"

"It's okay, you don't have to tell us if you don't want."

Seeing his hesitant expression, Helen sighed a bit. Kamijou panicked a bit and waved his hands, flustered.

"Ah, no! Sorry, I just realized something and got sidetracked. It's my right hand. It negates magic."

"Your right hand?" Nora tilted her head in wonder, looking at his arm.

"It negates magic? How does that work? Besides, even if you say magic, that's not what we are doing here."

"Eh? Ah, that, I don't know really. I was born with it. And well, it is not so much magic as supernatural phenomena. It can negate even god's miracles."

Kamijou chuckled, but Helen and Nora stiffened. After a few seconds, the priestess leaked out a breath.

"I see, god's miracles. That certainly explains it."

"Huh?"

Seeing Kamijou who was staring in wonder, she laughed a bit.

"Nora. Explain to him about the theory behind the rite." She turned towards the door. "And you, go and bring an unbound card. Also, you'll be punished for skipping on your duty and disobeying instructions."

"Ah..."

"Busted."

"Told you so. I bet we're gonna be in charge of cleaning for a month thanks to someone."

"Isn't it fine? It's totally worth it! That guy just said he can go against the goddess! Do you think Helen-sama would have told us?"

"Well, that's..."

While chatting amongst themselves, three figures appeared from a different corridor that the one Kamijou and the other two had taken to get there. One of them had fiery red hair, another one had twin-tails, and the last one wore a cool and unfriendly atmosphere.

"Uh... If I remember correctly... You were Alex and Lily, right?"

The red-haired one whistled and grinned.

"Wow... You're good. You only heard our name once, and remembered it right away. Nice going, player. I'm Alex. The silver-haired girl who looks like she just swallowed a lemon is Lily. And this one..."

"Yes yes! I'm Kaya!"

Without waiting for Alex to finish talking, the shortest girl with the twin-tails made a twirl while introducing herself and took a cute pose making the peace sign and closing one eye.

"Ah, yes, nice to meet you. I'm Kamijou Touma."

Kamijou introduced himself smiling politely, a bit overwhelmed by the overly-energetic introduction, but did not feel discomfort, as if he already knew someone who liked that kind of shenanigans.

"Oh? Could I be I have not spoken clearly enough? Would you rather be cleaning all year, instead of the three months I had decided on?"

"Geh? N-No! I'll go now! I'll go now so please don't make us clean all year long! We'll seriously die if we have to do it by ourselves!"

As Helen's voice acquired a dangerous tone, Alex responded while running back towards the entrance.

"Lily, I thought I told you and Alex to explain everything to the ones outside? Why did you follow us?"

"Outside is being taken care of by Retta and Lena, so there's no problem. Kaya insisted on coming and Alex tagged along, so I followed them."

"But! But! It's the first time someone rejected the goddess blessing! That's so interesting! What are you? You said it was your hand, right? A mage? A sage? A follower of another god?"

"Eh... I'm not... Um..."

"K-Kaya! Y-You're troubling Kamijou-san!"

"Oho? Now that's rare. Have you gained a sudden interest in him? Kyaa! Love at first sight! To think our little Nora would grow so fast! It's okay, onee-chan will support y- Ouch! That hurt, Lily!"

"She's older than you."

"Don't retort me with a cool expression! Besides! With the way she acts she seems younger! Not to mention her fetish!"

"Fetish?"

Touma intervened involuntarily in the conversation due to an unexpected term, but Nora's face grew red and she tried to shush the excited girl, who looked at her, then at Touma, then at her again, and grinned.

"She likes to had her head patted! In fact, most of her character was built upon that fact! She's a pat fetishish! A _pat-ishist_!"

"Don't tell him! Why did you tell him?"

"You're not stuttering anymore."

"It's come again! The cool-faced retort! Anyway! What do you think about it?"

"I told you to shut it!"

After shouting at the bouncing girl, the black-haired novice remembered something and turned around quickly, facing Touma, who was watching their interactions with a befuddled expression, and blushed again.

"Ah... No... This is... I didn't mean..."

"What's wrong?"

"I... Um..."

"Hyahaha! Don't you find it strange? She's older than me, and stills acts like a child to get people to pat her! She probably wanted to use you to satisfy her fantasies!"

She stopped talking for a second and then made a face of realization.

"Huh? Hey hey, Nora-chan. I only just realized, but until now the only ones you tried to pull that off with were Helen-sama and us. I mean, it's not like it worked anyway, your character was demolished in 5 seconds, but whatever. We're already used to it so we don't mind, but this time you're doing it with a man? What's this, what's this? I was joking, but did you really fall for him?"

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"

"You broke you're façade again."

"Ah..."

When the silver-haired girl pointed out, she looked at Kamijou once more and lowered her head, not knowing what to say.

"Are you done with the play?"

A cold voice broke the atmosphere and the three girls stiffened.

"You're troubling our guest. Apologize."

"Eeeeh?"

Kaya was going to protest, but her eyes met Helen's and she swallowed her words. Then she turned towards Touma and started to bow with a resigned expression.

"It's okay, I don't mind it. Don't worry."

Kaya turned to look at Helen once more with a bit of hope, but was met with a glare that could chill the bone and kept bowing. Both Lily and Nora followed suit.

"I have a couple questions, but is that alright?"

Kamijou was troubled as the girls didn't stand from her bowing posture, probably because of the cold glare they could feel coming from the side, so Kamijou tried to change the topic. The head priestess turned to look at him, and he realized that she must had noticed the true intent behind his words, but followed suit nonetheless. The three girls used the chance to stand and take a few steps back. Nora threw a grateful gaze at Touma.

"Don't worry and feel free to ask. The reason why you and your friends were brought here today was not only to receive the cards, but also to give you a basic explanation on how this lands work. It was supposed to be their job to clear any doubts" she stared icily to the three girls "but your case is a bit special, so I'll also help."

"Ok, then. In the first place, what is this rite that we all were supposed to pass?"

"That's a good question, but it will be a bit difficult to answer without explaining about the Titles first. You three, explain it to him. I'll go check what is making Alex take that long."

Hearing her tone of voice, even Touma felt sorry for the missing girl. He watched her disappear through the same passage the red-haired girl took before, before turning to the other three novices.

"Kamijou-san, what do you know about Titles?"

"Not much. I only heard Yomikawa-sensei say that there is something called the "Title System", and that it is very important."

"I don't know what system means, but it is true that Titles are very important for everyone. What do you think is a Title, Kamijou-san?"

Touma fell silent for a bit, and then answered.

"Hmm, something you give to someone who did a great thing? Like _The Conqueror_ , or _The Wise King_?"

(Or the _Fetish King_ , or the _Siscon Sergeant_...)

"Not exactly. Titles are a representation through words of all that a person is. For example, a king of a country would have the title [King], while a member of the army could have the titles [Soldier] or [Knight]."

"I see. That makes sense. But, how can you know what Titles do you have? And now that I think about it, how do you obtain titles in the first place?"

"You use this."

Helen's voice interrupted from the side, cutting the dialogue between Kamijou and an oddly motivated Nora whom, he noted, seemed much more confident than before.

The priestess entered the room followed by Alex.

"I found her on her way back. This is a card."

She handed him a thin plate of metal, but he did not make any sign of taking it.

"Is it okay? If it's magical, I might destroy it..."

"So your ability also works in objects? Well, it's fine. Take it. There's no problem."

"I understand."

Touma took it in his hand. The plate vibrated for a split second, but nothing else happened. Helen, who was watching it closely, gave a sight of relief.

"It seems it was successfully bound. That's good."

"Bound?"

"You asked how does someone know what Titles does one have, right? We use these." She pointed to the metal sheet Kamijou had in his hands. "They don't really have a name, but most people call them cards or plates for simplicity's sake."

"Hmm..."

He looked it carefully. It was a simple sheet of metal at first glance, grey in color and with nothing special about it. He gave quick check to its backside, but didn't discover anything new. Touma raised his head and asked with interest.

"How do you use these?"

"That's easy."

The one who answered was not Helen, but Nora, who was again in high spirits. It seemed she liked to explain. It reminded him of a certain miniature-sized goddess. Kamijou had played games before, so he wondered if every temple also had an explanation character or it was just coincidence.

"Everybody is provided one when they are children by the local temple. For foreign people like yourself, we give them when you visit us for the first time. I guess you didn't see, but we had a bag full of those prepared near the entrance for your friends, too. When a person who doesn't have one touches it, they bond and it becomes theirs. Adversely, if the person already possess a card or the card itself is already bonded to someone else, nothing will happen."

"So it's one per person, then?"

"Right. Then, once it has successfully bonded, the titles will just be displayed there."

Kamijou stared at the utterly plain grey-colored plate.

"...I can't see mine, though?"

"That's because you need to activate it first. It's really easy, just concentrate on the card."

(Is this like what we did before in class to enter the game?)

Touma concentrated and, almost immediately, several rows of some kind of runes or illegible letters appeared on the surface of the plate.

"Ah, it really came out."

"Good. Can you read it?"

"I can't."

"Well, as expected."

Helen asked with a hint of eagerness in her voice, but after hearing his answer, shook her head regretfully.

"Umm... I'm sorry, but you lost me."

"Kamijou-san, do you know why the first thing we do with anyone who comes to get their card is perform the rite?"

Nora jumped at the chance to explain something, and Touma lost himself in thought for a bit thinking about it.

"Can it have something to do with the language of this cards?"

"That's right! These things are not something which can be manufactured. Every temple has a special sacred chamber where this appear spontaneously whenever they are needed. In other words, they are a gift from the gods. Naturally, the language by which these work is not used by any of the human kingdoms or empires. During the rite, we call the blessings of the Goddess upon the people so that they can understand it."

"Oh, I see. That's why you said that what you were doing was not exactly magic."

Kamijou frowned upon realizing something.

"But wait... if I can't read it, what's the point in you giving me this? Wouldn't it be a waste?"

"Of course not. I told you, right? We receive cards in the measure we need them. If a person comes, we get one. If two come, two. And besides, bounding is the first act by which someone obtains Titles. If you didn't have it, you would face a lot of problems later on. Showing it is necessary to obtain almost any kind of work, and also works as proof of allegiance in case you want to join certain organizations."

(It works as an identity document, then. Hmm?)

"You mean, even if I can't read it, other people can?"

"Yes and no. I can't read directly from your card, but..."

Nora took a card from within her tunic. Since it did not have visible pockets, healthy teenager Kamijou made an effort not to guess where it had come from.

"...I can use mine to read your Titles. Everybody can only read through their own card. Look."

She showed it to him, who noticed that there were the same kind of incomprehensible symbols in it than in his own card.

"You're right... I have absolutely no idea what could that mean. There's not much difference with mine."

He lowered his head and looked at his own card.

"Hehe."

A sudden laughter rang out in the corner. Over there, Kaya, who had stayed silent together with Alex and Lily during the explanation, was shaking and releasing weird chuckles.

"Hahahahahahaha! It's time for the main event now! I'm sick and tired of the study session, so let's put an end to it and go straight to the exciting part! Now! Let's see what Titles exactly do you have there!"

With eyes brimming with excitement, she took out her card and pointed it at Kamijou.

However, her arm was stopped by Lily, who frowned.

"Kaya. That's bad manners."

"Oh, come on! Don't tell me you don't have even a bit of curiosity to know what kind of Title a guy who rejected the Goddess blessing would have!"

"That..."

Seeing the silver-haired beauty hesitate, the twin-tailed character pressed further.

"And besides! He doesn't mind! You don't, right?"

"Eh? No, um... Uh?"

"See! He said it didn't matter! There's no problem! Not problem at all!"

She pointed at him with the plate again. Kamijou's instincts, cultivated over several life-threatening situations, kicked in and warned him that the seemingly innocent girl with the over-energetic attribute and the maniacal glint in her eyes was dangerous, so he moved behind Nora and called for help.

"Sensei! That person is scary! I have no idea what's going on, but I have the feeling that if I don't hide I will lose something very precious!"

"Ah! Kamijou-san! Close! You're too close! And what do you mean with sensei!"

"Tch! Don't hide behind another person! You have to be in a direct line for this thing to work! Don't worry, it won't hurt!"

"This person's lines have somehow become dangerous all of a sudden! Nora-sensei! I would like an explanation now please! And maybe some saving as well!"

"Ah, geez! Kaya-chan, stop! It's rude to read another person card without permission!"

"Indeed. I thought a year of cleaning duties would be enough, but it seems it was not. Shall we make it three years?"

Helen's voice had the effect of cold water being poured over Kaya, who stopped in her tracks and lowered the card reluctantly. She threw a last sulking gaze at Kamijou and sat on the ground crossing her arms.

Touma stared in fear at the pouting girl, still hiding behind the other girl back. Nora sighed and patted his shoulder to indicate him that the danger had passed.

"To see another persons Titles, you have to point toward them with your own card and concentrate like you would do to see yours. However, it is bad manners to check on others' without their permission. That's because, since the Titles someone has represent most of that person's life, it is akin to an invasion of privacy."

As she talked, she glared at Kaya, who turned her head and refused to make eye contact. Sighing, she continued.

"Of course, there are times when you will be required to show them. In order to join some associations, they will check, to confirm that you are not a spy."

Kamijou stared thoughtfully at the plate in his hands, and raised a hand to his chin.

"But then, it is useless to me anyway, right? Since I can't read it at all."

"About that..."

Nora hesitated, and then Helen intervened.

"You'll have to learn how to read the runes for yourself. Although nobody has attempted to do so before, it doesn't mean it is impossible. Besides that, I don't see any other solution to your issue."

"You could ask someone you trust to do the reading for you."

"I see." Touma nodded and smiled to the emotionless girl who made the suggestion. "Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll do that."

She nodded in response and he faced Nora again.

"Now then, sensei. Anything else I should know?"

"Don't call me sensei! It makes me feel older!"

"How about sensei-chan then?"

"That's even worse! A-Anyway, I think I already covered the most important points, so you shouldn't have any problems. By the way, what do you plan to do? Most people try to find a job, but there are various options."

"From now on, is it... I haven't thought about it. I think I'll just go with the flow for the moment and go with my friends for a while."

"If that is so, you should hurry."

Lily pointed with her chin to the door.

"They're back."

From there, the last two girls who had helped the students from the school came walking. One of them had long, black hair, refined features and an elegant bearing, and the other one had blond hair with drills and walked with her head high and exuding a proud aura.

"Good job. How did it go?"

"Yes. We did not have any problem and were able to give the explanations to everyone. It's just..."

Helen greeted them, and the black-haired girl looked over at Kamijou with an uneasy expression.

"Most of the boys were complaining about only him getting preferential treatment, and asked to be brought inside too. Of course, we said that it was not possible and that he had special circumstances, and then they started making a ruckus... In particular, there was a blue-haired man who always had his eyes closed and a blond one who wore glasses who were particularly noisy, they did not stop shouting things about some kind of disease and saying that we had all been infected..."

"Were you able to deal with it?"

"Yes, there was no problem. Both the adults and the girls seemed to be used to the situation and dragged them away with them when they left."

"W-Wait a second. I just noticed, but when I came here, it took at least fifteen minutes! And you said that they just left like that? It must be a joke. There's no way that they..."

At that moment, Kamijou experienced a vision of Yomikawa laughing and Oyafune glaring at him.

"They would! Crap! I gotta go! Thank you for everything!"

After bowing politely to each of the girls in turn, he took off running towards the entrance.

"Ah! Kamijou-san, wait! That's the wrong way! You'll get lost if you're not familiar with the layout of the chambers, so I'll guide you to the exit."

"Ok, thanks, Nora-chan! Let's hurry! Goodbye, everyone!"

Kamijou bolted towards the door, followed closely by Nora.

"Ah-ahhh... he left. And I really wanted to check his Titles myself..."

Still in the floor, Kaya sighed dejectedly. Alex shrugged her shoulders.

"How did it go with that gentleman? Did you discover what was the reason the blessing of the Goddess did not work on him?"

The blond girl heard them and came to ask, looking interested. Her partner also approached, her curiosity piqued. Kaya bounced back up and her eyes shined.

"Listen to this, listen! According to him, he can negate gods miracles!"

"WHA-?!" "What?!"

"Yes... that's what we thought too. I don't really believe it, but..."

Alex smiled wryly seeing the dumfounded faces of the two latecomers.

"I believe in him."

"Oh? Even Lily is saying something like that? That young man must be quite the charmer. I saw the way Nora was acting when she left with him. It was my first time seeing her like this. And for the aloof Lily to say such a bold line... Ufufufu..."

"That's not true. My wording was wrong. Don't tease me, Lena."

"Yes, yes."

"That face says you're not listening to me at all."

Lily blushed slightly while Lena laughed happily.

"It looks like I missed something important. For a man to pick Lily's attention... He must be quite the remarkable individual."

"He didn't give that impression at all, though. Anyway, it seems our little Nora-chan will have unexpected competency. I hope you don't stop being friends in the future."

"Hahahaha! I didn't notice at all! So we're going to have a love triangle now? This is exciting!"

At one side, the blond girl with drills, Alex and Kaya commented while watcing the antics of the other two girls. At that moment, the priestess approached them.

"Henrietta."

"Yes."

"We'll have to trouble your father. Please go ask him to prepare messengers."

"Understood. How many?"

"We need to send it to all of the neighboring churches, so I guess about fifty would suffice."

"And the message?"

"Confidential."

"Yes. I will depart now."

She walked resolutely toward another entrance. Helen saw her off, then turned toward the other girls, who had stopped bickering and were waiting in silence.

"You'll write the messages. They're confidential, so we will have to write every single one of them by hand."

"We understand."

"The contents?"

At this point, Helen stopped talking and took a deep breath.

"If an individual named Kamijou Touma appears in any of the churches, he has to receive full support and maximum priority has to be given to any of his requests, no matter how extravagant or unusual."

"What."

"Haaaa?!"

"Seriously?!"

"Helen-sama! Are you sure? It is true that he was able to reject a blessing, and he himself didn't seem like a bad person, but isn't that going too far? We don't even know if his ability can really go against god or not, not to mention that we can't be sure if he lied about anything! We haven't known him for even an hour! If you give maximum priority to any of his requests, that basically means you're giving him the right to order everyone around! What if he learns about it and decides to take advantage of it? What's more, if he were to..."

"Are you done?"

Helen looked coldly at the red-haired girl who could not contain herself. Realizing that she was being rude, she opened her eyes wide, and then lowered her head, ashamed.

"Did you believe I haven't thought about any of that? That I wouldn't consider the risks before giving that kind of order? ...Well, it's fine. You said all of that out of worry for the church. And it is true that such order will affect you as well, so you deserve an explanation. Listen well, all of you. Do you know what a prophecy is?"

"Yes. It is when the Goddess tells us what is going to happen so we can be ready for it, right? Like with the arrival of the foreigners."

The one who answered was Lena. Helen nodded towards her and continued.

"That is right. It is basically the method a god uses to communicate with a human. Then, do you know about the specifics of such a method?"

The five novices looked one another and shook their heads.

"It's this."

Helen took her card out.

"Plates are presents from the gods. Therefore, it is only natural that they can use it as well. The prophecy that I mentioned before was a simple message that appeared by itself on the plates of a number of high priests of our church one day. I received one as well."

"Excuse me, Helen-sama, but... How does relate with the order?"

"Before that young man left, I tried to check his Titles."

"Uh... Helen-sama, that..."

"I know it was disrespectful of me. And more after I stopped you from doing the same."

She looked at Kaya, who stuck her tongue, and her gaze softened.

"However, I had to ascertain with more security the nature of that individual. We don't know if it was a trick or not, but it is true that he did reject the Goddess power repeatedly. I wasn't sure what to think, since it didn't seem like he was lying. Therefore, even if it was impolite, I decided that I had to ascertain what kind of person he really was. This is what appeared."

She offered her card to the others.

The novices all crowded around her and looked curiously at their mentor's plaque. They had told Kamijou that it was impossible to read another person's, but there was an exception. When two or more people were together for a long period of time, they naturally became able to read them. That was so because Titles were a representation of what a person is and, since they already knew everything about each other, there was nothing to hide.

They focuse their gaze on the dull surface. After a few seconds, they paled.

There was a single Title there. It read:

[Goddess' favorite]

* * *

 **Explanation chapter! Hope it did not become boring midway. But what did you expect? This is supposed to be a game, so the first thing you do is the tutorial.**

 **See ya!**


	5. Chapter 4 - Chase

**Hey there!**

 **Thanks to Guest for pointing out typos. I usually reread the chapters a couple times before publishing them, but there are always errors that I miss. If you find any, feel free to point them.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 4 - Chase

"SUUUUUCH MISFORTUUUUUUUNEEEE!"

That was the scream that resounded across the forest, where a boy with spiky black hair was desperately running for his life from a mob of pursuers. Kamijou Touma was not a stranger to these kind of persecutions. Usually, he would run through district 7 alleys from a mob of thugs that he would have offended after trying to help some random girl that was being picked on, either to divert attention form the saved girl or, more often than what one would think, to save the thugs from the girl, who would casually shrug off his help and proceed to zap, blast, drown, burn or simply steamroll with mocking ease the punks. This time, however, was not the same.

The difference lay mainly in the nature of the pursuing party. In other words, the ones following behind him weren't humans.

Now, Kamijou was an individual who had an unusual amount of experience in dealing with inhuman adversaries. To present, he had faced golems, angels, homunculus, some kind of glass knights (he still didn't know how exactly those worked), a collective identity who propagated itself through microbes, and a couple gods, among others oddities. The beings that were actually engrossed running after him screaming and making his back a target for practice with rudimentary bows belonged under none of those categories and were, therefore, a fresh experience of misfortune.

They were short, ugly creatures with green-colored skin, sharp fangs that protruded from their lower jaw and slightly pointy ears. They wore rudimentary furs and cloth to cover their waist, but were otherwise naked. Some of them also wore some accessories made from fangs, such as necklaces and bracelets. They brandished rusty knives while they ran, except three or four who were shooting arrows at the retreating boy.

It was easy for a normal high school boy who had a hobby of playing rpg videogames to recognize them, since they featured in a lot of them as one of the easiest enemies to beat, being suitable adversaries for beginners and appearing in the first parts of the game.

They were goblins. Kamijou was, in fact, a little surprised about how closely the noisy creatures following him resembled the mental image he had of them.

Why was a completely normal and harmless high school boy escaping a horde of goblins in the middle of a forest? To find out, let's go back in time a bit.

* * *

Kamijou and Nora finally exited the church after about ten minutes of running from chamber to chamber. By this point, Touma was sure he would be lost had he not had the help of the not-so-shy girl to guide him.

"Wow, you really helped me there. I panicked a bit when I heard they were going to leave without me. I mean, we arrived just today, so I've no idea where to go from here or where to even begin to look for them... Thanks for that."

Nora, who received the smile, blushed a bit and returned it.

"Don't worry about it. I think we already told you, but our church was created to help those in need. You could say this is my job."

"Is that so... Damn, they really have left me behind. Do they really not care for me that much? Hey, sensei, any ideas where you could have they possibly gone?"

"Don't call me sensei! Let's see... Considering that your group had a considerable number of people and that you arrived today, there are not many places they could go to. If I had to say, checking the market is probably your best bet. In case they're not there, they only other place I can think of is the Guild... That or they have left the city. What's wrong?"

Midway her speech, she had noticed Touma stop looking around for signs of her classmates and staring straight at her instead.

"No, it's just that, I thought it before, but that's awesome. How did you know all of that? Besides, the explanations you gave me back there were also easy to understand."

"Our city is not that big, and there are only a couple places that can accommodate all the people in your group at once. I don't think they'd separate, being their first time here. So it's not difficult to figure out if you've being around for some time. And, well, studying is my strong point, and I like to explain things... I, I actually want to be a teacher. But sometimes I get carried away and keep talking about unrelated stuff and bother the people around me... You don't think so?"

She was fidgeting and blushing lightly, and looked at him with a half-resigned, half-hopeful gaze.

"I know some other people who also like to explain things." The images of his freeloaders came to his mind. "And, believe me, I almost never catch anything they talk about. They know a lot, but that doesn't mean they can explain it properly to others. Not everybody can do that. But with you, I don't have that problem at all, it's easy to understand what you mean or how that works. I think that's a good quality. And, if you can't seem to stop talking, that just shows how passionate you are about your dream, right?"

As he was talking, he remembered Kaya's words, so he, without thinking, raised his arm and placed his right hand on top of her head. Then, he gently rubbed back and forth.

"Uhhh... Thank you..."

"Ah!"

Nora had her head lowered and was blushing so much that it seemed steam was coming out of her ears, and noting the blunder, Kamijou retired his hand in a fluster.

"Sorry! It's just that you reminded me of someone, so I subconsciously... A-also, your friend said that you liked this..."

"It's fine..."

The tomato girl raised a low voice that Kamijou failed to catch. Then, he turned his head around once more.

"Well, I better go now. Thanks for everything, sensei!"

Touma bowed politely to the girl and took off in a hurry, leaving behind the still flushed girl.

* * *

After asking around a bit to the locals, Kamijou finally made his way to the market. Contrary to the rest of the town, it was a bustling place, far noisier than the streets he had threaded upon to get there. There were stalls all over the place, similar to the ones that appeared in festivals, but instead of selling sweets, they were engaged in the trade of weapons, armor, books, jewelery, clothes, and anything one could imagine.

Touma approached some of the vendors and asked them about his classmates, but none of them remembered a group with that many people passing through there, so he gave up. He also asked about the other possible place they could have gone to, and by chance, one of the people he asked just happened to came from there, and informed that they hadn't gone that way either.

According to Nora, that meant that they had left the city. He began heading to the gate, taking the same path he used before.

(I guess for the moment I'll check the forest we first appeared into. I hope I'll be able to catch up... They're a large group, so if I hurry, I should be able to before they arrive. Assuming they are actually going there, of course. Well, in the worst case, I'll just log out and... Hm?)

Kamijou stopped in the middle of the road abruptly, startling some of the people on the side, who looked at him with odd looks. He paled and started sweating bullets.

(They never told us how the heck we were going to go back to the real world! Crap! Isn't a teachers role to protect the students?! I thought it was safety above all!)

As realization struck him, he started sprinting at the maximum speed he could muster towards the gate.

(Damn it, damn it, damn it! You better be there, sensei! If I'm trapped here, then I'll be late, won't have time to go shopping, won't have groceries for dinner, and from there it's a direct ticket to the _Touma! There's no food! Chomp, chomp, crunch_ scenario! I thought I already cleared that stage today!)

* * *

Fueled by fear, Kamijou managed to accomplish the remarkable feat of running back the same path they took to the city in less than half the time, but he only grew more frantic when he noticed that he should have caught up by now. Not only didn't he meet anyone on the road, there was no one in the point where they originally appeared either.

Frustrated, he started shouting while walking around in the area to see if he was lucky and they were around. He didn't have much hope, but he was beginning to become desperate, so he took the first action that came to mind.

"Oooooi! Sensei! Aogami! Tsuchimikado! Are you here? Fukyiose! Ooooi!"

He kept walking for a while, repeatedly calling the names of his classmates, but nobody answered. When he was on the verge of giving up and return to ask Nora and Helen if they knew of any other place they could have gone to, he heard sounds coming from behind some trees.

The noise was strong, so he determined that there had to be a large number of people there, probably around forty. He let out a huge sigh of relieve and passed the trees, entering the clearing while deciding between smiling and making an angry expression.

"I've found you at least! Honestly, how could you leave me like that... Oh."

About fifty pair of eyes turned to him at the same time. In front of the high school student, a horde of goblins had ceased making any kind of noise and were mutely staring straight at him.

Instead of succumbing to the panic which threatened to engulf him, Kamijou acted like any Japanese man would and tried to talk his way out of his predicament.

"Look, sorry, I didn't intend to intrude on you or anything. I was just searching for my friends, and I just happened to hear the sound you were making, so I made a mistake and came here. Is there any chance we can talk about this?"

The goblins stared at him, not saying anything.

"Oh right, if it's because of hunger that you're planning to attack me, tonight I have to make an extra big dinner. I could invite you. I don't know if there are enough ingredients left, but if push comes to shove we can always make do with a classic hot-pot and-"

"GUHYAAAAAAAAA!"

In the middle of Touma's speech, one of the goblins who was wearing several necklaces and bracelets and who was most probably the leader released a guttural cry. All the other goblins followed suit and started shouting, and then started to swarm toward the idiot who was trying to reason with monsters.

Kamijou sensed the incoming crisis and took off running in the direction he came from.

"Dammit! Do you guys really hate hotpot that much?! Such misfortune!"

* * *

And so we arrive at our present situation.

Touma was running away with all his might, but he was beginning to reach the limits of his stamina. After all, he had walked to the city, run back at full speed and roamed the forest for a while. It was then that he noticed a black-haired girl a few tens of meters ahead who was making him signals to run in her direction.

"Himegami!"

Kamijou accelerated towards her, dragging the goblins behind him.

"Keep running straight and don't stop."

Even though he did not understand the situation, Kamijou merely nodded and did as he was told. He was tired and didn't have any other plan, and he believed in his classmate, so he did not doubt and plunged straight through the bushes that she pointed at. The monsters single-mindlessly followed after him.

"Ready... Now!"

Suddenly, a barrage of sand and rocks attacked the goblins, crushing them almost instantly. Touma, hearing the sound, stopped running and turned, to find that where there were a bunch of ugly little creatures jumping, shouting and trying to take his life there was now a bunch of rubble.

"Success!"

People starting appearing from behind the trees that surrounded the area. They were, of course, Kamijou's schoolmates that he had been searching for. Some of them went to check the spot where the goblins had disappeared into, but most of them where busy cheering and chatting between themselves with excited voices.

Touma was left staring at them confused, not knowing what was happening.

* * *

"See, I told you he would notice me."

"You're right. Good job, Kamijou."

Himegami and Fukiyose approached from behind, and the latter gave him a thumbs-up. Touma summed up all the thoughts currently swimming inside his head in a single question.

"What's going on here?"

Himegami tilted her head, as though she did not understand the question, and then she made an enlightened expression and hit the palm of her hand with a fist. She pointed to the goblins, or its remnants that were being dug by a couple of espers with earth-related abilities.

"We set a trap, and lured them here. It worked. It's our victory."

"I'm pretty sure you skipped a lot of important checkpoints there."

Fukiyose released a deep sigh.

"We needed someone to show you the way... Himegami volunteered, but some people" she glared at some boys who were doing their best to appear busy "were not sure you'd notice her. I was ready to shout too if you didn't."

"Why would I not notice her?"

Himegami raised her head to look at the boy in the eyes, who wore a genuinely confused expression, and felt a faint heat raise to her cheeks. Fukiyose gave an approving nod.

The rest of the class had completely halted any kinds of activity and were staring at the boy mutely. Soon some whispers were exchanged.

"So that's how he does it. What a fine technique."

"Yeah... He's on a completely different league."

"Worst is, I don't think he's acting..."

"As expected of Kami-yan. There's no need for flashy performances in order to capture the girl who blends in the background... With a single sentence, he conveyed so much. Splendid."

Meanwhile, the girls were watching them with cold eyes and sending approving glances at Touma.

"That's okay, but I wanted to ask something different."

Kamijou resumed the conversation while trying to ignore the somewhat strange atmosphere and asked the question he wanted answered.

"Why did you leave me behind? I had to run all the way here because I didn't know how to log out! Do you know how scary that was? At least Yomikawa-sensei could have told me how to! Oh right, speaking of her, where are she and Oyafune-sensei?"

"Ah... about that..."

Himegami turned her head around and refused to make eye contact. The majority of the girls also looked somewhat ashamed, while the males, instead, were grinning and appeared satisfied. Fukiyose brought a hand to her forehead and sighed.

"It was an idea that the boys thought of. We tried to dissuade them, but they were determined and we ended up tagging along. I can't believe it worked..."

Touma looked at her with a wondering gaze, so she kept talking and started explaining.

"After you left, the girls from the church gave us the rite and the cards and explained how they worked. I assume they also told you inside."

He nodded.

"Then I won't repeat it again. In the middle, two more girls left, the one with the red hair and the energetic one. The other two were the ones who explained everything to us. When they were done, they just left."

Touma nodded again. It was as he had expected until that point.

"When we were alone, Yomikawa-sensei and Oyafune-sensei said that they had finished their job and we had free time for the rest of the time. Also, they explained how to disconnect. They also told us to explain it to you, because it would be bothersome if you were to be trapped and they had to come back."

Kamijou's took deep breaths to calm the irritation that was getting hold of him.

(Just how carefree can you be, sensei! As if you didn't know these guys character! Well, thinking like that, we kind of fit with each other... Like teacher, like class...)

"They recommended to try hunting for a while. Yomikawa-sensei said that they did it for a bit yesterday together with the other teachers and that it was fun, but that they to spend some time to find monsters in the forest."

"Wait there. What's all of this about hunting?"

"They didn't explain it to you? Basically, to kill monsters. This is a game, after all."

"I guessed, but since nobody waited for me, I couldn't confirm anything. I'm as much of a novice as you guys, you know?"

"Do we really have to explain every little thing to you?"

Sounding annoyed, Fukyiose rubbed her forehead.

"Listen. Remember when Komoe-sensei said that we were playing to develop our esper powers? The idea behind the game is to get us to experience situations that would normally be impossible in our daily lives, to stimulate our creativity and see if we are able to improve. The easiest way to do that is fighting. That's why, if you have yet to notice" she made a gesture towards the rubble under which were the goblins "our powers work here."

Touma nodded. It made sense. Usually, the only people who actively fought using their power were the students who worked in Judgment. Most of them were at last level 2, with a majority of level 3s and some level 4s. Of course, if one were to talk about the level 5s, they probably had more battle experience than all of the rest of the students combined. Touma just needed to remember about the amount of destruction Accelerator had caused in Hawaii.

"And so, sensei told us that we should try fighting, since it will probably be part of our homework. She also said that the goblins were easy to lure and stupid and we wouldn't have problems with any number of them, so they were good to be our first opponents. It's just that to search for the them usually takes time."

"I understand that much, but how is that related to leaving me behind?"

"You see, Kami-yan."

Tsuchimikado approached and passed his arm over the other boy's neck.

"We asked ourselves: who has the highest probability of finding monsters among us? I mean, if someone happened to run across them when they're so difficult to find, that be pretty unfortunate, now wouldn't it?"

"You don't mean..."

"And the answer was: the bastard who abandoned us to flirt with the cute priestess! It was obvious what we were going to do! Two birds with one stone! We find monsters and you got to suffer some of the pain all of us normal guys feel when you always get the girls! The strategy was a huge success! Hahahahaha!"

The other male students were also laughing complacently and pumping fists in the air, yelling things like "Take that, harem mongrel!" and "Riajuus should explode!", but were cut off by a dark laughter.

"Haha... Hahahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You thought I would stand for this? You think it would end like that?! As much as I hate it, this Kamijou's misfortune is not that simple! If you took advantage of it consciously since the beginning, then that wasn't true misfortune. Behold!"

He made a grand gesture towards the back of the students. Unknown to them, a large amount of goblins had made their way there, probably attracted by the noise made when their brethren were buried.

There were over a thousand of them.

Amidst the shrieks (and an occasional curse) that arose from the group of teenagers, only a person was laughing while running away.

"MUAHAHAHAHA! Take that, traitors! This is true misfortuneeee!"

* * *

Later at night, Touma found himself opening the door to his apartment, carrying several groceries bags for the promised dinner, as well as a carton box sealed with a bit of tape. He sighed as he reminisced about what happened the last hours.

In the end, the goblins didn't amount to much. There were only about fifty students in their side, and only a portion of them could use esper powers, since they were mostly level 0. And even then, they had utterly annihilated the monsters in less than 10 minutes. He knew they were supposed to be weak, since they were meant to be a first opponent to the players, but the fact that such a large number were taken care of so easily showed just how much of an effect ability users from Academy City made in battle.

After that, they disconnected and returned to the classroom, a process that turned out to be surprisingly simple: just like the access, just thinking about it was enough. Once back in the real world, he had been forced by Komoe-sensei to play Blind Poker along with some of his fellow classmates, where he had managed an impressive losing streak that didn't stop until his teacher dismissed him out of mercy. By the time he made it out of school, most of the shops were already closed, so he had to go to a convenience store to buy ingredients.

As for the cardboard box, they contained the twenty first episodes of the highly anticipated masterpiece, _Epic Tale of the Dark Hero_. He had gotten them from Tsuchimikado as an apology for using him as monster bait.

Returning his attention to the door in front of him once more, he took a deep breath and prepared himself. His hand rummaged through one of the bags and took out a bread that he had prepared for the occasion. Once he was done, he opened the door in a single, fast motion.

An opened jaw welcomed him and headed straight for his skull. However, Touma was prepared for this and, in one fluid motion that put most of the fighters he knew to shame, dodged at the same time that the hand holding the bread moved to the same spot where his head was. As a result, instead of on his cranium, the nun who owned the jaw ended up munching the food. Kamijou took the chance and made a dash to the kitchen while apologizing.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Index! I'll start cooking now! Just eat that for the moment!"

"Welcome home, human."

"Touma! *munch, munch* Do you know *munch, munch* how late it is? I *munch munch* was hungry!"

"You finished it already?! That was supposed to be an extra-large size that took at last 10 minutes to eat! I'll complain to the store! That was a sham! It didn't last even 10 seconds! Just how high are your destructive points?!"

"That doesn't matter! I want the extra-large dinner promised! And you better not tell me that little snack was it just because the words appeared in its name!"

"Oh, right, Tsuchimikado lent me a new anime, they say it's interesting. We can watch while eating."

For a minute silence reigned. Just as Kamijou was deciding what would give him the highest survival odds, whether to stop cooking to try and appease a more than likely annoyed magic god whose suspiciously wife-like greeting had been ignored and face the wrath of the hungry nun, or keep cooking and suffer the potential retaliation of said magic god, a voice rang out in the living room.

"That's awful."

"Yes, it is."

"I'm getting a sense of _déjà vu_ here, but I'll ask anyway. What is?"

When he turned to look, they had a dead look in their eyes.

"Did you think this would interest us, human? There's nothing but half-nude females in the cover."

"Eh? But I heard that it was really good, especially the romantic part. The girls in my class only talked about that. Apparently it's popular with all ages and both genres. Why don't you give it a try?"

After a few seconds of deliberation, the goddess nodded.

"Hmph. Very well then."

"I don't mind, Touma, but where's the food?"

"Here goes! Kamijou special incoming!"

* * *

That same night, when all the lights in the building were off and everyone slept, a shadow crept unnoticed through the balcony of the flat. It did not make any sound as it skillfully forced the glass door open, and entered the room.

However, it failed to notice the small figure that had been following its movements since the moment it landed on the platform outside. That's why it couldn't react when it sprang into action.

"Don't move."

The person who had entered stopped in its tracks, startled by the sudden voice that had sounded right next to its ear. It felt a cold metallic sensation in its face, right under its eye.

"That's a screwdriver. If you don't tell me right this instant who you are and what is your aim, I will drive it through your eye all the way to the brain. I'm not sure if its long enough to reach, though. If it is, you'll die. If it's not, you'll just lose an eye. Talk."

"Well, I guess it's as expected of a god of war nya~."

The choice of words was carefree, but the voice sounded stiff, obviously affected by the threat. The trespasser slowly reached with his hand towards the wall, where there was a light switch, and turned it on. Instantly, the room lit up and Othinus was able to see the intruder.

It was a young man with dyed blond hair, who sported shorts and a green Hawaiian shirt with white floral patterns. Gold chains hung from his neck and, despite being late night, he wore dark sunglasses.

Without removing the screwdriver from his face, the spy smiled.

"Hello, Magic God. We need to talk."

* * *

 **And until here. That's the end of the day. I think that days are a dangerous time unit for Touma. It happened to me sometimes that, after I'm done reading a novel, I realise that everything transcurred in a single day. That was especially shocking in later volumes. I mean, take NT8, NT9 & NT10 for example. Go shopping, fight on a train, fight a god, fight the world. All in a single day. And what about NT13 & NT14? Being chased around by a mummy old man, rescue the little girls, search for hotpot ingredients, and fight your foil? That's the summit of "busy days". I'm never complainig about my schedule again.**

 **Anyway, next chapter Othinus will visit the other world.**

 **See ya!**


	6. Chapter 5 - Deductions

**Hey there!**

 **Not much to comment on. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 5 - Deductions

Touma woke up early next morning, and proceeded with his usual routine. He changed into his school uniform, cooked food for Index and himself (since Othinus barely ate at all) and disposed to leave for school. Humming to himself, he opened the door.

"Hm?"

There was a package outside, in front of the entrance.

Kamijou immediately closed the door again, made sure to turn the key, double-checked just in case, and then turned, rested his back on the door and called.

"Othinus."

"What is it, human?"

"There is a box in front of the door."

"Your point?"

"Last time we had a package, it came with a Magic God inside. What are the odds of that happening again?"

"World Rejecter sent them all to a new world. There is a single Magic God remaining, and you are talking with her."

"I see."

Kamijou paused for a second, then went on.

"Tsuchimikado once delivered me to an all-girls school in one of those."

"And so...?"

"Nothing. But I don't like boxes. They bring misfortune."

Realizing that at the rate he was going, he would be trapped in his own home and be late to class yet again, he gave a reluctant sigh and unlocked the door. Then he gazed at the innocent box on the ground.

"What's this?"

"That's the spare, nya."

"Oh, morning, Tsuchimikado."

The blond spy had come out from the next door and was yawning lazily. He pointed to the other doors in their floor. There was an identical box in front of each of them.

"Today's the game release. Since it's free, everybody can go to a shop and just ask for a device. But for us students, it's part of our homework, and we may be required to bring it at class. That's why the higher-ups are giving us a spare, just in case something happens to the one you got yesterday." He shrugged. "Most of people will just give it to family or friends to avoid the queues, though. I'm giving mine to Maika."

"Then I'll guess I'll give mine to Index. She wanted to play ever since she saw Arisa's add. Oh right, thinking about it, what should I do about Othinus? She won't want to be left out. But the bracelets are too big for her... Maybe if we put one on the floor, and then she lays inside..."

His train of thought was interrupted when his friend passed an arm over his neck and started dragging him away.

"What are you mumbling, Kami-yan? We'll be late, you know? You'll make Komoe-sensei cry! Right, did you watch the anime? It was good, wasn't it?"

"No kidding! It was awesome! We only had time to watch a couple episodes, but so far it's amazing!"

"Ooh? Kami-yan finally joined the club? How is it? You're in favor of the yandere priestess, right?"

Once on the street, Aogami jogged lightly and caught up from behind them.

"What are you saying, Aogami! That's spoiler territory! He's just a novice, clean and pure! Don't corrupt him with your perverted ideas when it's obvious the imouto is the better one!"

"I don't know what you two are talking about, but at any rate the onee-san was just incredible! I still don't know how I came to like a character that much after only two episodes!"

"That's because the good characters haven't appeared yet, nya. Just you wait, the little sister character will steal your heart before you know it!"

"I won't refuse that statement, lolis are always good. But! The other ones are good, too! The key is in the variety, variety!"

"Whaat?! Tsuchimikado, since when were you a lolicon?! Have you finally fallen that low?!"

"As long as it's a little sister, bring it on~!"

While bickering back and forth, the three friends made their way to school.

* * *

After class, Touma made his way back to his dormitory. Because he was dragged after coming out, he didn't get the chance to leave the box at home and was instead carrying it.

"I'll just give it to Index. Since she doesn't have residence permit, it would be a problem if we went to get a device and they asked her some kind of identification. Better to avoid trouble. But I haven't found a way to resolve the problem with Othinus... She wasn't obvious about it, but it won't sit well with her if we just leave her behind. What to do..."

He arrived home while musing to himself.

"Touma!"

Index was already waiting for him. He almost could see the excitement radiating from her.

"Let's go, Touma!"

"Let's go where?"

At this, her enthusiasm subsided a little and she looked a little annoyed.

"You forgot again! I even waited for you instead of going by myself!"

But then, she sighed and made a gesture with her hands as if saying "it can't be helped".

"I guess Touma is just being Touma again. We have to get bracelets! Today is the day Arisa's game comes out! It said on TV that everybody can go get one! I memorized all the shops where we can go, so we won't get lost!"

"Ah, you mean this?"

He raised his arm to show her his. Komoe-sensei had recommended to try an always wear it, like a watch, and only take it out to shower or play sports. The device was light and comfortable to wear, so he took the advice and wore it to school for the day, even though he wouldn't have to use it there today.

"AHH! How come you have one? Did you go to the shop without me?! After I waited for you!"

"Hold on, Index! Those teeth look scary! I got these yesterday in school, because we needed them for our curriculum!"

"Then why didn't you mention it yesterday?"

"I guess I forgot. Sorry. Anyway, here you go."

He handed her the box he had been carrying. Index took it curiously and examined it eagerly, her previous irritation forgotten.

"What's this? A present?"

After calming down the nun, Touma told her about the circumstances and why he had two of the bracelets. Remembering his teacher's blunder, he made sure to taught her how to connect and disconnect, and he also talked about what he had experienced yesterday inside the new world, including the Title System and the hunt.

At the end, the magical library smiled.

"I don't like that I will have to receive a blessing from a god other than our Lord, but it can't be helped. Let's go!"

She ran to the bed, lay down and closed her eyes. Kamijou observed her breathing become increasingly stable, until it settled down. Her chest heaved up and down at a slow peace and she had a peaceful expression. If he didn't know, he would've told that she was sleeping.

"Now then... Hey, Othinus. Are you okay?"

"What are you talking about?"

He turned towards a luxurious doll house placed on top of his bookshelf. After all the madness with St. Germain, the goddess made him go back to the shopping complex to buy it, arguing that a threat of that level should not make you desist of your objectives. Whether that was meant for him or she was referring to herself in her quality as a war god, he still didn't know.

Once obtained, it had taken them a week of experimenting to decide on the final location of Othinus soon-to-be residence. They had at first tried the floor, so as to allow her to enter and exit with independence, but she ended up under siege by the predator. The center of the table inconvenienced their daily lives, and it also proved itself an ineffective defense against the furred monster, who just jumped.

They finally settled for the shelf, since Sphinx could not reach there and it was not a place they normally used for anything. It presented the inconvenience of Othinus herself being unable to access it without help, but since usually either Kamijou or Index would be at home, that didn't pose too much of a problem.

When she heard him calling for her, she stuck her head out through the window.

"You haven't said anything since I arrived. I should go help Index now, but then I'd leave you alone. I really don't know what to do... It'd be easier if you could come with us too, but well..."

"Ah, about that... Hold on."

She moved back inside and closed the window. Moments later, she appeared through the front door. Touma put his hand in front of her and she lightly jumped on it.

"I already have mine."

She made the same gesture he had made before, and showed him a reduced version of the bracelet that he himself was wearing.

"Where did you get that?"

"Well..."

Othinus recalled the conversation that took place in that same room, not even twenty-four hours ago.

* * *

" _Hello, Magic God. We need to talk."_

 _Several seconds passed without neither of them moving. Finally, the goddess retired the corkscrew she was still holding and jumped back from the shoulder of the intruder to the top of the bookshelf, in front of her house._

" _I'm going to trust you for now, because he considers you his friend. But you will have to explain to me why are you invading his room at this time of the night."_

" _Okay, okay, don't get too excited now. At this rate you'll walk down the yandere route. I doubt Kami-yan will be happy with that."_

 _Othinus felt a vein throbbing in her forehead._

" _You have three seconds to start talking."_

" _Geez, you're no fun. Let's get to the point them. I didn't come here for Kami-yan, but for you."_

" _Oh?"_

" _I bring you a present that our very generous Board Chairman sends you with his best wishes."_

 _He took out a little box from his pocket and offered it to her. She opened it and her eyes widened a bit in recognition._

" _With that you can be with him even when he goes far away. Aren't you happy?"_

 _The Magic God didn't answer. She was busy staring at the little bracelet inside the package. Finally, she raised her head and looked directly at the spy._

 _The teenager had to suppress a slight trembling when her green eye pierced through him and he felt a chill travel down his spine. In front of that gaze, he felt like he had no secrets at all, as if all of his being was seen trough. He worked the best smile he could, but it came out stiff at best and cramped at worst._

" _Please don't look at me with such a passionate gaze nya~. Kami-yan might get jealous~"_

" _What are you planning?"_

" _I don't know what you're talking about~?"_

" _Don't mock me. That game everyone is talking about is obviously part of some kind of plan. It'd be wise for you to reveal everything now before I make you."_

" _And what makes you say that?"_

 _She rubbed her forehead in annoyance and glared again._

" _It's obvious. The game is being publicized as a product of applying Academy City's superior technology to the video-game industry, but whenever an add appears, it is told that it was developed as a result of a collaboration between several countries. It could be thought as a marketing strategy to attract players from other countries, but there's no way the higher-ups would let rival nations get credit for something that they did._

 _That means that those other countries did offer something of equal value to the technology provided by the City to the elaboration of the game. Since Academy City doesn't lack any kind of normal resources, there's only one thing that other countries possess that could possibly hold that much value, and that's magic. Furthermore"_

 _She paused for a bit to catch her breath, and threw the box to the young man._

" _The very fact that you're here confirms everything. My body is different than yours. Even if I don't hold any power, it retains the characteristics of a Magic God. There's no way a normal device would work on me. If that thing you gave me actually works, it must use magic of some sort._

 _This game is a common project by both the science and the magic sides. You must know about the commotion that a relatively small group like GREMLIN caused when it attempted to use both. There's absolutely no way such a big project would be started without some kind of grand goal. So, tell me. What is it that they are planning?"_

" _Wow... As expected of a goddess of wisdom. It took me four days to figure out that much. But sadly, I couldn't tell you more even if I wanted to. It wasn't a lie that I've been stuck with the messenger role. I'd love to know myself what they're up to."_

" _Why should I believe you?"_

" _You shouldn't. I'm a backstabber. But this time, I'm telling the truth. You should examine the bracelet when you have the chance. There's nothing dangerous there. And, if you don't use it, it may be a problem for you. After all, Kami-yan would end up wandering all by himself in a world of bikini armor and skimpy cleric outfits. How much time do you think will pass before he runs off to save some girl who is being attacked by a strangely obscene slime who only melts clothes?"_

" _Tch."_

 _The tiny god clicked her tongue in irritation, and glared again._

" _That's fine, then. I don't believe you know nothing, but I don't think you're lying about being a messenger. I'll keep this."_

" _Thanks for using Backstabbing Deliveries, S.A.! The trust of our customers is our policy. Then, until next time!"_

 _And with that, the spy ran towards the balcony and disappeared in the night._

* * *

"Never mind. It wasn't important anyways."

"...? If you say so."

Touma eyed her suspiciously, but did not make any further comment.

"Since that was taken care of more easily than I had expected, should we go ahead and connect? Index should be waiting for us. Ah, to enter you have to..."

"It's fine. I heard you explain everything before."

Touma put her down on the bed, next to Index, and she lay down and closed her eyes. The only one left was the high schooler, who made his way to the bathroom, lay on the tub and concentrated. A moment later, his mind took off to the different reality.

* * *

Kamijou appeared in the same forest where he disconnected the day before. He was still wearing the same brown clothes, which he assumed was some kind of novice garb. He looked at his surroundings, looking for Index or Othinus, but he could not find any of the two.

(Strange... Index came a little before, so it's possible she left, but Othinus should still be around here.)

Staying there would accomplish nothing, so he started walking around. He was a bit familiar with the surroundings by now, and eventually he made it to the zone where he, along with his classmates, had originally appeared.

"...an..."

He was about to took off, but stopped and instead, looked back again.

"...Hu...man..."

"Othinus!"

This time, he heard it clearly. He rushed desperately towards where he thought the sounds came from, frantically searching for the tiny Magic God.

It was the first time he had heard her speak with such a weak voice. Not even in Denmark, when she suffered hypothermia, or when she disintegrated because of the fairy spell had her voice cracked. And now, she sounded strained, as if bearing a great pressure or enduring a great pain.

He finally arrived to the origin of the voice. It was easy to find when he followed the increasingly stronger ragged gasps, that seemed to be coming from behind some bushes. Kamijou gulped a little and circled them.

Magic God Othinus was there, lying on the floor. Her checks were flushed, her breathing out of order, and she was sweating profusely.

Also, she was naked.

When she heard him arrive, she made an effort to raise her head a little, and looked at him with a watery eye.

"Human", she said with difficulty, between pants, "touch me."

Kamijou's mind went into overdrive. He started processing all the information he had. Othinus was naked, her checks were flushed, and her breathing was out of order. She was also sweating a lot. And she wanted her to touch him.

His face went red.

"Othinus... We shouldn't do this... I know you're older, but you're still a maiden, and I'm a minor... And, um, you're still 15 cm tall... What's more, here in the open... That'd be inappropriate..."

"What are you on ab..."

The goddess started to speak, but stopped midway and her face became redder than it already was, in a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

"Gaah... T-That's not it, you fool! I need you to *gah* use your right hand! *pant, pant* There's something wrong with my body! Gaahh..."

Her rant seemed to make her condition worse, because she groaned in pain and her muscles twitched. Kamijou hurriedly approached his index finger and gently tapped her (in the stomach, of course).

The sound of breaking glass rang in the forest.

* * *

"Eh... Othinus-sama? I'm sorry..."

"Hmph."

Othinus was sitting on the ground, covering herself with a leaf, and recuperating from her earlier ordeal. Her complexion had become better as soon as Imagine Breaker came into effect, but she still felt tired.

"I apologize once again! C'mon, don't be like this, it was partially your fault too. That choice of words did not exactly help in conveying the situation."

Seeing as she still refused to talk back, he sighed and lay on the grass too, with his hands behind his head.

"Fine, then. But could you tell me what happened at last? Was there something wrong with the transfer?"

The goddess peeked at him, and she finally relented.

"I'm not sure myself. When I appeared here I couldn't move and I lost control over all my remaining powers, including my clothes. Right then, the pain came and I called for you, hoping to settle whatever was affecting me with your right hand. You know the rest."

"So you have no idea at all?"

"Not exactly. That kind of pain... It felt like when I used the fairy spell back then."

Kamijou stood, shocked. And then, he panicked.

"What?! How are you feeling now?! You're not going to disappear, are you?"

"Relax. It's not exactly the same situation, so I'm not gonna go anywhere. More like the contrary."

"The contrary?"

"That's right. My powers as a Magic God are back."

"I see... WHAT?!"

"Look."

She waved her hand. A second later, she let go of the leaf, reveling her usual clothes underneath. Touma was observing with a dumbfounded face, stunned as surprise after surprise were thrown at him.

"Man, this is crazy. How did that happen?"

"I think... that you broke some kind of limiter just now."

For the first time, the goddess frowned and made a wondering expression.

"Huh?"

"Back in the real world, my body is "fixed" in a permanent state. I only have 1% of my total power as a magic god. That's something that should be impossible. After all, as long as a god doesn't lose all his power in an instant we would just heal ourselves. Sure, it may take time if the damage is big enough, but we'd be back at full power nonetheless."

"And you're not like that?"

"Why else do you think I would remain in that ridiculously puny state? That's why I'm saying it's strange. I did not lose all of my powers for sure, since I still exist. My body is actually part of my powers, since it's different from human ones. My clothes too, for that matter. Didn't you notice how they changed in size with me when you woke up in the hospital?"

"Hold on. You're clothes are a part of you? That would explain why they disappeared if you lost control of your powers, but... Then they can be considered a part of your body, right? In that case, are you telling me that you are always walking around nudeggybduhjggbah?!"

"Watch your tongue, human. That's the second time. There's a limit to the number of misunderstandings you're allowed to make."

"That hurt! Rather, how did you do that?! I didn't see you coming!"

"I told you that my powers were coming back just now."

"The first thing you do after regaining them is torture me again?! I thought we were over this! Just how much of an S are you?!"

"And that's the third one."

"No, wait a second, I was just kidding, please don't- GYAAAAAAAH!"

A few minutes later, the spiky-haired boy was sprawled on the ground, smoking slightly. The Magic God coughed a few times and continued as if nothing had happened.

"Ahem. As I was saying, since I still existed, then I should have recovered my powers naturally. The reason I can't do so is probably due to Imagine Breaker. It negated the fairy spell, which was supposed to kill me, and created an unheard of situation."

"I get that. What has that got to do with you getting your powers back?"

"That's why I mentioned that it was the contrary of back then. I don't know how, but when you negated whatever was hurting me, it also removed that limiter. If I concentrate my current amount of power in recovering, I should gain my strength back."

"Ohh, good for you. So, how much power have you recovered?"

"About 0.000000000000000000000000000000000001%."

"...That little?"

"Aren't you underestimating a god's power too much? It's not that easy to regain. I can't use spells on the level of the Bone Boat, but if I should be at least capable of casting spells at the standard of an average magician. Also, as long as I'm not doing anything else, I'll just keep regaining power."

"Heeeh."

"Now that that is taken care of, there are a couple of things I'd like to check on."

Suddenly, Othinus stood up. She then made a face of realization, as if she just remembered something, and lightly waved her arm. A second later, she was no longer 15cm tall, but rather about 160cm, her original height. She stretched and leaked out a satisfied voice.

"As I thought, this is the best height for me."

Touma was watching surprised, but recovered quickly.

"Is that part of the powers you have regained?"

"Yes. Manipulating my body is very simple and it doesn't require much power, so I can do it right away."

"I see. It feels a bit weird seeing you all grown up again."

"Get used to it. Anyway, human. I heard you talking with the nun before. You were chased by goblins, right?"

"That's right."

"How tired were you after that?"

"How tired, you say... I don't know, the normal, I guess."

"Do you think you could have run as much as in the real world?"

"So that's what you're getting at... There was no difference. The distance I ran, my stamina, the feeling I got when I started to get tired, it was all exactly like back there."

"Oh... Human, come here."

"What is it- Owowowowow! It hurts! What are you doing!"

"It hurts?"

"Of course it does! What do you think would happen when you suddenly pinch someone!"

Othinus' expression changed slightly.

"It is possible to feel pain in this world. Think about the implications."

Touma's face changed as realization dawned on him. Just yesterday, he and his classmates had been attacked by goblins. They were safe because they had espers among them who made short work of the monsters, but what if that happened to normal people? For example, Index. What if she was attacked? The knowledge of 103,000 grimoires would not help her evade arrows or block knives. Would she have to endure the pain of being pierced and hacked apart?

"This is bad. This is really, really bad. Dammit! What the heck is wrong with this game? How could they put such a dangerous mechanism?!"

"Calm down. Even if you can feel pain, it's not like anybody is going to die. And besides, you said that the process to disconnect is the same as the one to access, right? That's an instantaneous transference. If somebody is in danger, they can just exit then and there."

"Y-You're right. My bad. I freaked out a bit there."

"Hmph. You were worried about others again, weren't you? That's just like you."

"Haha..."

Kamijou laughed weakly. The goddess approached him and looked directly in his eyes.

"There is still one more thing I want to try."

Without bothering to wait for his answer, the Magic God raised her hand, grabbed the collar of his clothes and pulled down with inhuman strength.

And kissed him.

Kamijou was too stunned to react. He felt her tongue forcing her way into his mouth, and explore its insides. Her movements were quick, daring and aggressive. By the time his mind finally managed to catch up with the situation, Othinus had already pulled back. She stared at him, with a rosy tint in her cheeks.

"It's been confirmed, not only is it possible to feel pain, but also pleasure."

"Ah, um."

He was incapable of giving a coherent answer.

He brought a finger to his lips, and he blushed. He then raised his head to looked at her, and any answer he may have had in mind disappeared when he realized that she was not longer looking at him, but rather at the woods.

"Get ready, human. We have guests."

From behind some trees appeared a group of goblins. They were 6 of them, two of them with bow and the other four with knives.

"Oh, it's you guys again. Did you change your mind about the hotpot? The offer still stands, you know."

"Did you seriously invite monsters for dinner? And moreover, hotpot?"

"Hey, it worked with a god. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't on monsters."

"We should just kill them."

Othinus prepared herself. The enemies were using non-magic weapons, which meant that his partner's right hand wouldn't affect them. He would probably be able to defeat them if the situation called for it, but it would be easier if she just blew them all up instead. Even if her powers were greatly reduced, now that she was able to use magic again, killing these kind of small flies was simplicity itself. She readied her magic, and just as she was about to wave her hand and obliterate them...

...her arm was firmly caught by a right hand.

She felt the mana she had built dissipate as Imagine Breaker kicked in.

"What are you..."

She turned around to face the boy who had interrupted her, but stopped herself midway. His blue eyes were staring straight at her, deadly serious.

"Stop."

His tone made it clear that he was not joking.

"If you have regained your powers, that means you are a Magic God. However, you're incomplete. Ollerus explained to me about the infinite possibilities. Right now, you have neither Gungnir nor the fairy spell to deviate your odds and made your spells succeed with 100%. Isn't that right?"

"...It is."

"That means... that means that for every spell you use, 50% of the time it will backfire on you."

He gathered strength in his hand that was still grabbing hers, and spoke with force.

"It's not good, Othinus. I don't know if it's possible, but you'll have to find Gungnir in this word as well. Until then, I'm not letting you use magic. I won't let you get hurt."

"I won't allow that. With what right are you ordering a god? I will be the one to decide when to use it."

"No."

"How do you expect me to fight without my magic?"

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to protect you."

Neither side would budge. They glared at each other, both of them fully aware of how stubborn could the other be. The standoff continued for several seconds, until one of them could no longer continue and gave up.

Othinus grabbed the hem of her hat and pulled it down, so that her eye was not visible.

"Fine" she muttered under her breath. Touma smiled.

"How are you going to deal with them, then?"

In a bit more, they would finally be in range of the bows. The knife-wielding ones would also reach them in no time.

"In that case, let me present you a Kamijou-styled move that has saved me on multiple occasions. I use it in day-to-day life as well as in grand occasions. It's called:" at this point, he spun around and sprinted, without releasing Othinus hand "RUN AWAY!"

"What? You tell me all of that and the first thing you do is run away? Do you have any idea how uncool that is?"

"Shut up! Like I care about being cool or not! Our lives come first!"

"What do you think people would say if they knew the hero of WWIII was being chased around by goblins?"

"It's not like this is the first time this is happening, so it's too late for that!"

Ohtinus did not stop running. Her vision wandered behind her, where the goblins were following them emitting shrill shrieks. She then looked towards the front, where she saw the back of the spiky-haired teenager running at full speed, not letting go and dragging her behind. She remembered another time where, just like now, they had been forced to flee together.

" _I'll make sure to protect you."_

She smiled. She kept his pace, following him, feeling the warmth of his hand that, even now, refused to let go of her. After a while, she could no longer restrain herself.

The goddess laughed joyfully.

* * *

 **Fuuh... I feel like Othinus paragraphs just went on and on and on... As, as expected of an explanation character who also happens to be a god of wisdom. How fearsome.**

 **See ya!**


	7. Chapter 6 - Purchases

**Hey there!**

 **Answers to comments**

 **MrQuestionMark: That might or might not be a plot point, so I'll refrain from commenting. Also, Touma was going to panic. He was soo gonna panic... until the goblins interrupted him. Damn goblins. They have no delicacy.**

 **Guest: The decimal marks are not wrong. It's just that, instead of using the American and English system, I was using the European one, which is more familiar for me. I checked the translations at Baka-tsuki and they use the American one, so I ended up changing it anyway.**

 **Agent Nine: I think the classmates already know about Index. I remember this joke when Himegami transferred where they announced the student and Index came inside the classroom. It does scare me what'll happen if they meet Othinus, though.**

 **Guest3500: In NT12, even if he complained and jokes were made, Kamijou still went to the Dianoid, and before St. Germain intervened, he even made it to the shop. I doubt he would go there just to check the dollhouse, so I assumed he had the means to buy it.**

 **blarg7865: Read to find the answer.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 6 - Purchases

"Ah, Kamijou-san!"

Nora's enthusiastic voice greeted them. After successfully outrunning the goblins, the teenager had brought Othinus to the town and headed for the church. Once there, they had witnessed six long lines of people, in front of which stood a novice priestess, one for each. They were busy distributing plates and performing rituals at a frantic pace, but it seemed that the situation was still within what they could manage.

Kamijou figured out that since it was the day of the release, a lot of people must have connected at the same time. He made his way to the end of a queue, when Nora spotted him.

Her face brightened, and she called out to him. After giving her card to the girl she was attending, she bowed politely to the next person in line, giving a quick apology, and then rushed towards him.

"Hey sensei, how're you doing? I know I shouldn't say this since you came to receive us and everything, but is it okay to leave your post? It seems they're a bit angry."

He pointed at the people on the line she was managing. They were all looking at her, obviously displeased at having the person in charge leave after having waited for a long time. When they saw that she left because of a guy, some of the boys in line instead looked at him with hostility.

Kamijou endured a shudder and looked back at the novice.

"Oh, it's okay, Helen-sama said that in case you came by, we should... ah, it's nothing. Also, don't call me sensei! And, um, who's this person? Your friend?"

Nora looked at Othinus for the first time, a bit taken aback. After all, she was a blonde beauty wearing an eye-patch, a witch hat and, most importantly, an extremely reveling outfit. The people in the line also saw her, and the hostility in the boys eyes started to turn into something that bore an alarming resemblance to homicidal intent.

"That's right. Her name is Othinus. Would you mind doing the ritual to her?"

"Of course not! Othinus-san, if I may."

The blonde girl watched disinterested as the novice brought a finger to her forehead and chanted in a low voice.

Nothing happened.

Her lip twitched, and she repeated the chant. Again, it was futile.

"Helen-samaaaaaa!"

On the verge of tears, she ran back to the old priestess, who embraced her and gently rubbed her hair, so as to comfort her.

Kamijou and Othinus were left dumbfounded, but followed her until the entrance of the building. When they arrived, the Helen looked at him with a complicated gaze.

"It's you again. I did not expect to see you so soon."

"My friend is new here, so I brought her to receive a card and the ritual. It seems to have failed again, though." He looked at Othinus, who shrugged.

"Yes, I saw. It would be best for the two of you to come inside. Nora, return to your duties. You shouldn't make this people wait more than this."

"It's fine."

A voice interrupted. When they looked, the silver-haired Lily stood there, making a V sign.

"I finished mine. You can go."

"Really? Whoa! Amazing! Thanks, Lily-chan!"

"Hm."

One of the lines had disappeared completely. It seemed Lily was the fastest when it came to applying the ritual, barring Helen, of course. She raised her chest at the praise and, though her expression barely changed, Touma had the impression that she was proud.

She politely bowed to Kamijou and Othinus and went to Nora's line.

"Then, this way please!"

* * *

They moved through all the chambers and reached the central room. It was unchanged, with the same odd architecture and the altar in the middle. Helen positioned herself in front of the shrine and motioned for Othinus to follow suit.

She complied, and stood before her. Much like her pupil, the priestess proceeded with the standard procedure of finger to the forehead and chanting. And much like her, nothing happened.

At first, she put on a confused expression, but then she seemed to realize something and her pupils shrunk, her face paled and she started sweating.

"Nora", she said, barely managing to control her voice, "Our guest is missing a plate. Why don't you take that young man and show him the hall where they appear?"

"? Okay!"

It seemed she was surprised, but didn't suspect anything. On the other hand, Kamijou had evidently noticed that something was amiss. He threw a quick glance at Othinus, who nodded slightly to him. He then relaxed and followed the young cleric, who had started to explain happily about the magic circle that they were going to see.

As soon as they left the room, Helen fell to her knees and lowered her head.

The blonde girl did not seem baffled by her actions, and simply stared at her, not saying anything. Helen also kept quiet and maintained her respectful stance, creating an impasse.

It was the goddess who spoke first.

"How did you know?"

"The fundamentals of the rite we do consist in threading mana through our finger to carve information directly in the brain."

"Of the language gifted by the gods, I know. I already been told about that, skip it."

"Yes. When used normally, we shape the mana according to the traditional method, and we also know whether the person that we're giving it to has successfully learned it. The more skilled the user, the faster that process can be accomplished. Also, upon reaching a certain level of proficiency, failure is almost negligible.

Until yesterday, I believed that the only people upon whom my blessings would have no effect were other high-ranking priests of other religions. Until that young man came along, that is."

She showed a wry smile.

"The moment my mana entered his body, it vanished. I had never felt anything similar. He also claimed that his power could go against god. And today, that same man brought you here.

When I tried imprinting the information upon you, at first I felt that nothing happened. That must have been how my apprentice perceived it, since she is still inexperienced. But, I realized. It's not that it didn't take effect – it's just that I'm so severely lacking in both mana and knowledge that it felt that way. Someone who spills a drop of water in the ocean will obviously not accomplish anything.

I could only think of an existence so overwhelmingly strong. I would usually not even consider such a possibility, but you came in company of the person who claimed could go against god, and who had already accomplished something I deemed impossible."

"And that lead you to figure out my identity. That's not too bad for a human."

"I'm honored."

That was praise from a god, but Helen did not let pride cloud her judgment. She kept her humble attitude and did not move from her kneeling position.

"So, why did you sent off your disciple? Did you not want her to learn of who I am?"

Helen swallowed saliva. The question seemed innocent, but she was treating with a goddess. While she was a follower of the Goddess of Self-sacrifice, who was a benevolent existence, she knew of some churches who revered less mortal-friendly deities. It was possible that a wrong answer would spell the doom of not only her, but the whole town.

She decided that answering truthfully was the best course of action. She would probably be detected if she didn't.

"I don't know what are your intentions, nor the reasons why you have come to this place, but you were trying to keep a low profile. It is possible that me discovering who you are would cause you inconvenience and you decided to get rid of me."

"And you figured that if you prevented her from learning the truth, I may overlook her... Is that it?"

The priestess nodded nervously.

"Well, that's not a bad assumption. It would trouble me a bit if everyone pointed fingers at me or knelt wherever I went. I guess I will just get rid of you. Are you ready?"

As expected. Helen gave a quick prayer and closed her eyes before nodding forcefully. Othinus raised her hand.

"...?"

Nothing happened.

After staying in that same fashion for a few minutes, the priestess could not resist any longer and raised her head a bit, wondering why was she still breathing.

What she found was the goddess staring at her, amused.

"Valor is one of the virtues I am fond of. I would preferred it if you had tried to trick me into giving you my word, but I don't dislike your resolve. As long as you swear not to speak of me, I'll let you live."

Overwhelmed, the priestess simply lowered her head, incapable of answering. It took her several minutes to put her breath in order and calmed her erratic heartbeat.

"Is there anything I am able to assist you with?"

Since the goddess said nothing, Helen took the initiative to ask. Her mind had calmed now that she knew that she was not malicious, and was able to think with clarity.

"Let's see. For now... tell me, about this world."

* * *

"...and then, the Goddess took pity in them, so she cried and cried so much that a lake was created out of her tears. Thanks to that lake, the people could drink, and they did not die of thirst anymore."

"That's amazing. So, it was thanks to her that you can live here?"

The voices traveled through the door and reached them before the people themselves. Othinus made a gesture to Helen, and she stood up and interrupted the explanation she had been giving about the political state of the region.

"Oh, we've arrived. Hey Othinus! Did you know that we're actually in a desert? It seems that there is this huge lake and the forest we saw is just the vegetation that grows around it. Who could've told, huh?"

When they entered their line of sight, the goddess stared at them. They were walking close... too close. And by the way they were smiling, it seemed they were having a great time.

"Did you get the plate?"

"Yes! Here, please take it."

When Nora handed the blonde girl the card, the latter glanced at her briefly, before immediately turning away, taking the boy by the hand and started dragging him towards the exit.

"Let's go."

"Shouldn't they explain you how to make it work?"

"That woman already explained it to me. There's no need to waste time."

"O-Oh? I see. By the way, we should ask them to guide us. I don't have any confidence in being able to escape from here. This is probably more difficult to escape than the Tower of London."

"I memorized the path when we came."

"What kind of memory do you have? Are you Index? Ah, wait! Helen-san, sensei, thanks for everything! See you around!"

He barely had the time to bide farewell before disappearing behind a corner.

Nora turned to the older priestess.

"Did I perhaps offend her?"

Helen could only stare at her with a helpless gaze.

(To cause that kind of reaction in a god... I don't know whether to praise her or pity her.)

"Who knows? Maybe they had to go somewhere?"

"Is that so?"

It was obvious that she was doubtful, but she did not refute her statement. Helen patted her head with affection and sighed.

(A goddess is walking among us mortals... something big is bound to happen soon.)

* * *

"What should we do now?"

"I think it would be good to find out how to earn money."

"Are you that poor that you wish for wealth even in a game?"

"As a matter of fact, I am! Also, the reason we need money is you, you know!"

"I don't understand."

"Isn't it obvious, you exhibitionist? I feel like the people's gazes will pierce me!"

After leaving the church, Touma and Othinus walked around while deciding their course of action. There were a lot of people on the streets, and most of them were wearing the dull-colored clothes that marked them as beginners. That made the people who wore colors different than the standard brownish stand out.

Othinus' choice of clothes would have been enough to make the most daring fashion designers cringe in normal circumstances, so this situation was just a bit short to qualify as one of the hell's Kamijou had gone through.

"It didn't matter when you were 15cm tall, but I would appreciate it if you covered yourself a bit. Come to think of it, didn't you say your clothes were part of your power? Then do something about them!"

"Going to the Guild is not a bad idea. They told me you could get work there killing monsters."

"So you're just going to ignore me? Sigh... So, why do you want to go there? It's not like you actually need the money."

"The Guild is the place where you go get money for the monsters you kill, or at last that's what that priestess said. It seems they also give various kinds of help to novice hunters."

"So it's kind of a starting point you go to if you want to be a fighter... That doesn't answer my question, though."

"Well, since a certain someone won't let me use magic", she looked at him, and he could've sworn her eyes gleamed, "I want a weapon."

* * *

The Guild building was also full of people, and the pair was forced to stand on queue. Fighting monsters was one of the obvious reasons for playing a game, so after being informed at the church, the natural choice was to come here to prepare themselves before going back to the forest to challenge the goblins.

When their turn arrived, they were attended by a middle-aged man behind the reception, who didn't raise his eyes from a pile of documents.

"Don't say anything. We're busy here, and there's a ton of people waiting behind you. I've got no time to be nice to everyone. I'll explain everything to you, and if there's anything you don't understand, you will figure it out on your own. Is that clear? Fine."

Without giving the opportunity to them to speak, he continued.

"First: this is not an adventurer's guild. I don't know who the heck came up with that name, but that's not what we're called. The Hunter's Guild or simply the Guild is the proper way of addressing us.

Second: if you bring the corpse of a monster, we'll pay you for it. At least ten groups of people came with some fangs saying it was a "proof of subjugation" or something similar and demanded that we paid them the full price of the goblin. What's the use of a fang? What do we care if you kill 1 or 10? We need the materials of the corpse. If you bring only a part, you'll only receive the correspondent price, so it's better to carry the whole corpse. Of course, we won't pay for the damaged parts.

Third: you can borrow a weapon in the counter at my left. Fill in this application and bring it to the girl there. If you do, we won't pay you until the cost of it has been deducted.

That's all. Next!"

He pushed two pieces of paper towards them, and shooed them away.

"Wow. That was... fast."

"Let's go. I want to take a look at what kind of weapons can we get. If they're not worthwhile I won't bother with them."

They went to the right wing of the building, towards the counter the receptionist had indicated.

Now that they were inside, Kamijou could observe the zone calmly. The building was divided in three zones, separated by wooden walls with large arcs. Both the entrance and the queues which extended beyond it were in the central area, which also had the most number of counters.

By contrast, the zone where they were now was less populated, tough by no means empty. Touma deduced that the central part was meant to deal with the general public, while the right one was were they issued weapons. And if the people carrying the cadaver of a goblin were any indication, then the leftmost one was were they received the materials.

This time, the person at the counter was a beautiful young woman, probably in her twenties.

"Now this is game-like."

"Excuse me?"

"No, nothing."

"I would like to see the weapons." Othinus demanded.

"Of course. Do you have the application?"

"We don't..."

"We'd like to see what kind are we allowed to borrow before making a decision... Would that be possible?"

Touma sensed that Othinus was going to say something against the social conventions that could get them in trouble, so he cut her off and intervened.

"Of course, we don't mind. You're allowed to try them, but you can't take them out of the storage. Don't worry, it's wide enough if you want to swing them around a bit."

"Thanks."

The spiky-haired boy smiled and walked with Othinus towards the nearby door the receptionist had pointed to.

When they entered, they found a wide room. Instead of rows of shelves like he expected, it was a single broad area. The center was devoid of any furniture, and some people were there, swinging swords, axes and other edged tools. It was obvious that, for some of them, it was their first time coming in contact with a cold weapon, except for a couple of them that seemed more experienced.

Touma was reminded of his friends of the Amakusa-Style Remix of Church, who were also adepts at close-combat fighting. Of course, none of the people present came close to their level.

Contrary to the center, the zones next to the walls were piled with an uncountable number of weapons. Most of them were swords, lances, axes, bows and daggers, and all of them shared a plain, unadorned design.

Touma walked to the nearest pile and rummaged through it. Looking carefully, some were in bad condition with nicked or rusted blades, and others were dirty with dry blood.

"It makes sense, I guess. They're giving them for free, and there's no guarantee that they will get enough money back. Maybe the person will die fighting there... It would be surprising if they offered good weapons instead."

He tried swinging a knife, but its weight felt strange on his hand.

"I think I'm going to pass... It's not like I'm proficient with any of these, so with my luck I'd have more chances of impaling myself than inflicting any actual damage... Hm?"

The goddess had separated from him and, with a spear in hand, went to the center of the sale.

She took a stance, and just as she was about to swing...

...the lance exploded in a rain of splinters.

"Othinus!"

Touma ran panicked towards her, who was staring at the remains of the weapon on the floor. Strangely, there were two longer parts, one of which had a metallic tip, but the section that united them had burst.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"These are no good." She sighed. Obviously, she was completely unharmed. "I tried applying a bit of force in my grip just now. I held back all that I could, but it still ended up like this. All of the other spears are of the same quality, they're useless."

"You're telling me you pulverized it by _squeezing_?"

"What's going on?"

A burly man in his thirties approached them. He was carrying a greatsword on his back, which he had been repeatedly swinging until now. He was wearing clothes that matched with the other two receptionists, so he was probably a staff stationed there to make sure that nobody stole, but was too bored and trained himself in the meantime.

Kamijou racked his brains and came up with an acceptable excuse.

"The lance broke. I think the wood was rotten, because it snapped easily."

The staff crouched and checked the remains, puzzled.

"That seems to be the case. There are some weapons in really bad condition here, but one that damaged is rare, since they have to at last be functional for us to lent them. It wouldn't be funny if a weapon broke in the first fight of a novice against a monster. I guess we're lucky this happened now rather than in a true battle."

"I see, that's good then. ...Umm, we won't have to pay for it, right?"

He got up holding the fragments and smiled, amused, when he saw his expression.

"Nah, we were at fault here, don't worry. We wouldn't be so shameless as to extort a rookie. Well, if that's all, I better go get someone to clean the mess."

"Okay, thanks for your hard work."

Touma bowed and the man left. Then, he headed for the exit, followed by his partner.

"Safe! I thought we were gonna get in red numbers on my second day. Good thing they bought the explanation. Say, where do you wanna go now?"

"You said you'll pass, but I still need a weapon. Should we go to the market?"

"Okay, then! Onwards!"

* * *

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

A short while later, they arrived at the market. And the expression of the boy, which had been bright and cheerful on they way there (probably because of the avoided crisis), was now showing the most absolute despair.

The reason was easy to understand in view of the situation.

In front, there was a stern-looking middle-aged vendor with a palm extended toward him, demanding payment. At his back and sides, a semi-circle of curious people had formed. And next to him, stood Othinus with the remains of yet another spear in her hands.

"Shame", she muttered. "I thought this was slightly better compared to the other, but trash is still trash."

Veins bulged in the forehead of the vendor. That girl wearing strange clothing had come out of nowhere, taken his best lance, and somehow managed to break it with a squeeze without any kind of apparent effort. When he claimed compensation, she had simply ignored him, as if he was so beneath her that she did not need to bother. And when he turned to the seemingly normal boy that was escorting her, he started muttering incomprehensible things about "raising flags" and "misfortune".

And now, on top of that, she was slandering his wares! The comments of the people around only served to confirm what he knew was inevitable.

"Did you see?"

"Yeah, she only touched it and it seemed to explode."

"Just how fragile was that? There's no way she could be all that strong with those slender arms."

"I prefer her legs, though."

"You guys don't know anything. It's the moe of the eye-patch!"

Okay, about half of the presents were not concerned with the merchandise, but his point still counted.

"Oh? That one... isn't all that bad."

In the meantime, Othinus ignored the pissed off merchant and headed for another shop. The crowd opened a path for her naturally.

She stopped in front of a small stall. It had a single spear in display, without any indication of the price like most of the other places. An elderly man sat in the floor in front of it.

"You have good eyes, jou-chan."

"Hmph."

She reached for the weapon, and the man did nothing to stop her.

At the side, Touma's expression was changing between desperation and denial as he realized that the better the quality of the weapon Othinus broke, the more he'd have to pay.

"Hold this for a moment."

The goddess threw him her hat, which he caught by reflex. She took a stance and, under the gazes of the curious, started to swing.

Kamijou sighed in relief. The lance didn't break. Unperturbed, she made another stroke, and another, and another. With each motion, her movements grew increasingly faster, and smoother.

Kamijou, and like him all of the observing people, had his breath taken away by the sight.

The spear moved sharply and quickly, executing each movement with flawless precision, as if it had life of its own, while its wielder effortlessly linked stance after stance.

The cape, that should difficult her gestures, didn't impede her in the slightest, and it only added to her magnificence instead. Coupled with her golden hair that flowed freely accompanying each stroke, the resulting image could not be considered anything but gorgeous.

The magic continued for a couple minutes, until she stopped. The public was so entranced that it failed to produce any kind of cheering.

"I'll take it."

The old man nodded.

"That was splendid, jou-chan. I'd be honored if someone as skilled as you were to use my creation. Oh, and don't worry about the price. I'll take that demonstration as payment. It's not everyday that one has the chance to observe a [Grandmaster] in action."

"A-A [Grandmaster] you say?!"

That last word woke the vendor of the previous stall of his trance-like state, and adopt a disbelieving face. Likewise, part of the crowd was starting to make a fuss.

Othinus gave a nod to the elder and walked toward Touma, who extended her the hat with somewhat mechanic motions. She looked up at his face and giggled.

"You can close your mouth now, you know?"

"Uh."

Touma regained awareness and did just that, embarrassed. He looked around and noticed the way the surrounding people were looking at them. A considerable number were still daydreaming, but an ever higher number were eying her with a mixture of adoration and awe.

"Ok, let's go. We already have what we came for, so let's leave before my misfortune has a chance to kick in."

"Don't worry. If they try anything strange I can slaughter them all."

"That's exactly the kind of trouble I want to avoid! No, your face is telling me how happy you are now that you found a weapon, but that's no excuse for testing it on unrelated people!"

"Tch."

"Don't you "Tch" me! Are you the kind of person that can't stop themselves when they get a new toy!?"

* * *

They ended up having to escape from the crazed crowd, who started to follow them after noticing they were leaving. Kamijou had difficulties restraining Othinus who wanted to exterminate them, but managed to convince her at the end.

"We were lucky. We got it for free, and we didn't even need to pay for the first spear you broke."

"Of course. Didn't you notice how happy the vendor was? I guess that [Grandmaster] thing is a high-end Title for martial artists. So it's something like "My merchandise was able to grab the attention of an expert". The publicity he got from it was worth several times the cost of a single lance."

They were walking through the forest again, searching for goblins. They had decided that for today, they'd hunt a couple monsters and bring them to the Guild, to see how the exchange worked, and then call it a day. Othinus swung her new weapon form time to time.

"Speaking of which, I didn't know you were that good with the spear."

"It's usually overlooked, since being a Magic God, my best weapon is magic. As Odin I'm also more famous for my runes and magic eye than for my skills with the lance. Still, you can't become the head god of a combat religion without being proficient with your weapon. Also, even if Gungnir has the attribute of "never missing", for it to come into play I must first be able to throw it properly."

"Is that so?"

While chatting, they came across a party of three people carrying swords fighting against five goblins. It was easy to notice that they had zero battle experience, and they were struggling to survive.

"Should we help them?"

It was not their first time since they had come back to the forest that they met people battling, but it was the only group that was outmatched by the monsters. Touma threw them a disinterested glance and kept walking.

"No, it's fine. Just leave them be."

After advancing a few meters, he noticed that Othinus wasn't advancing by his side anymore, and turned to look at her.

Said girl was standing still in shock, with disbelief written all over her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Human... are you feeling fine? Are you tired? Did you hit your head somewhere? Don't tell me, one of the splinters from before reached you..."

"If it's about me not helping them, there's a reason for that."

He started marching again, and explained.

"It's called gaming etiquette. It refers to rules that should be followed when playing games. Well, it's not like there's a manual or anything, so I don't blame you for not knowing."

By this point, Othinus caught up.

"In games, monsters are not treated as enemies or threats, but resources that give both experience and loot. In this case in particular it's only the latter, tough. The person or party that engages the monster in the first place has the right to finish them off and keep whatever they obtain.

If we helped them fight, it would be akin to theft. Even worse, since the ones who would have done most of the job would be them, not only would we be stealing, but also taking advantage of their efforts at the same time.

We could only intervene if they asked for help. If they don't, it means they are confident in their chances of victory."

"It seems the world of games is deeper than what people gave it credit for."

"You don't know the half of it."

"If I'm going to keep playing, I'd be better to learn about this etiquette you speak of. You mind teaching me?"

"I thought the day you'd say that would never come! Sure, if you're fine with me. I'll show you the expertise of a regular high school student!"

"I look forward to that... Oh, a goblin."

"Ok, let's kill him and head back. I want to know how much money one of these is worth."

The goblin fell easily with a thrust of the girl's spear. They carried it back to town, headed to the Guild and exchanged it as it was. The process resulted surprisingly simple. After they were done, and about to disconnect, a question came to the boy's head.

"Come to think of it, what happened to Index?"

* * *

Helen's prediction was correct. Two days from then, a challenge from the Goddess appeared in the plate of every newcomer.

* * *

 **Next chapter, we'll be changing POV.**

 **See ya!**

* * *

 **OMAKE**

Helen sighed.

(Something big is bound to happen soon.)

At that moment, her plaque vibrated slightly. That was a sign that only happened when the Goddess gave a prophecy, so she hurried to read it.

[What the heck! A friggin' god just passed by and you have the audacity to say "something big is going to happen"?! A GOD just happened! And what kind of lame foreshadowing is that, anyway?! "Something big"?! Are you aware how many bad interpretations those two words have by themselves?!]


	8. Chapter 7 - Experiments

**Hey there!**

 **Answers to comments**

 **d3mystic: I know about both KonoSuba and TWGOK, I have watched and enjoyed them. I tried not to base this story in any other one, but I guess if you were reminded of them they might have influenced it somewhat.**

 **Guest: About the kissing question, that'd be for the girls to answer, wouldn't it? This is just a wild guess, but I'd say that for Othinus it would count and all of the others would defend to the death that it doesn't.**

 **VTP-Denny: Log Horizon is one of my favourite series, so being compared to it in any way is a huge honor. Thanks for the kind review.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 7 - Experiments

"The fuck is this?"

The words caused a troubled smile and a disbelieving expression in the faces of the people towards whom the question was asked.

"I think I already told you about this a couple of days ago, didn't I?"

"Misaka can't believe you don't know about it, shouts Misaka as Misaka expresses her amazement at how poor your social awareness is! Misaka even brought you a pamphlet, says Misaka as Misaka nods proudly at herself, remembering her attempts of saving you from your grim destiny as a NEET."

Accelerator was not amused. He was the #1, the strongest esper in the world. He had fought in wars, experienced the dark side of Academy City and survived several life-or-death situations.

And for some reason, the annoying woman and the damn brat had decided to bring him a bracelet.

A bracelet.

That was bad in and of itself, but he could still accept it. After all, explanations were unnecessary when the brat had ranted and ranted for days about how incredible the new game was going to be when it came out. The fact that the medium between reality and this "New universe that will open your horizons and allow you to experience any fantasy and chase after your dreams, says Misaka as Misaka tries to awaken you to the awesomeness of video-games" was a wristband had become known to him long ago.

No, the truly worst part was something else.

It was pink.

 _Pink._

And no, it wasn't the kind of dull pink that melded with the clothes and gave them a light shade, nor the kind of lacklustre pink that one could confuse as white most of the time. It wasn't even the kind of flesh-colored pink that could be dissimulated when pressed against skin.

It was the kind of pink that made Accelerator wonder whether it was the result of the investigation of a Kihara with too much time to spare, who had studied in depth the visual system to discover exactly which tones of the chromatic scale caught a human being attention's the most, and proceeded to mix them all to create the children of doom that coated the exterior of the circular device he was looking at.

Needless to say, there was a proper cause for his righteous fury.

Even now, thugs attacked him from time to time when he went out at night to the convenience store to buy coffee. The reasons they had were as boring as they had always been: wanting to build up their fame, desiring the title of "strongest", etc.

The delinquents were several times out of their league, so he mostly tried to ignore them. Unlike before, he limited himself to switch his electrode and keep walking, only reflecting the attacks that came to him, but without bothering to make any effective effort to chase after them.

By that point in time, the vast majority of hooligans realized just how outclassed they were and retreated in shame. A small minority of idiots, however, were too stupid to notice their good fortune, and instead of fear they felt indignation because "he was underestimating them" and "he didn't face them seriously". Since nothing they did could hope to physically harm the white-haired esper, they resorted to psychological warfare, that is, taunting.

That didn't affect him much. Since he was using his battery anyway, he simply redirected sound so that he didn't hear anything they said. That forced them to eventually give up.

However, in some occasions the insults came before he had the chance to shut off sound.

Accelerator was not a patient person to begin with, so when the foes (if they could be called that) were willing to go that far he finally reacted and crushed them in seconds. Of course, nothing too extreme, no ripping limbs or tricks with blood flow like he used to. He only broke a couple bones at most, something that healed easily with the city of science's medic technology.

There were exceptions.

Whenever the taunts involved him being compared to a woman in any way, for some reason that he was incapable to comprehend he was invaded by a mental image of himself wearing a sailor uniform, along with an irresistible impulse to punch the fucking hero in the face.

That made him lose control of himself, and he ended up breaking more bones than intended.

And now, they brought him a pink bracelet.

It took all of his willpower to restrain himself barely enough to ask for the reason of the choice in color.

"Ahaha, you see, I had to go to work during the day, so I only could go to pick these up late in the afternoon. By then, these was the only color they had. I would have given you one from my school, but it's not allowed to give them to unrelated people. Don't worry though, the appearance is customizable, so if you don't like it you can change it later."

"Hey hey, why don't we try it immediately? asks Misaka as Misaka looks at you with puppy eyes, while Misaka tries to hide her excitement!"

"Haa. I'm taking this."

He picked both his and Last Order's bracelet, which was similarly pink in color, and ignored the protests of the clone as he walked into his room.

* * *

Some time later, in front of him laid the pieces of the completely dismantled bracelets. Accelerator had enough knowledge about microcircuitry from when he modified his cane into an anti-jamming device, and he also conserved the tools he had used to do it, so it was not an excessively challenging task.

The results were more normal than he thought. He had only found enough components to perform a limited number of tasks: to detect and monitor the minute electric signals that flowed through a body's nervous system, to transform that data to electromagnetic waves and send them out (presumably to a satellite, considering the kind of circuitry), to receive the same kind of waves from that same satellite and convert them back to electric signals, and finally to input data to the body by means of stimulating the skin with minute discharges.

To put it in simpler terms, it allowed the constant exchange of information between the brain and a satellite in real-time. Taking into account what he remembered of Last Orders explanations about how players interacted with each other, he supposed that the space machine was where the data of all the players in the world was collected.

At first glance, it seemed harmless enough, but Accelerator had enough run-ins with the technology of the City to give in so easily, so he kept examining the items.

Further proving only helped to worsen his mood. Not only did he not discover any new uses, he found similarities that brought out unpleasant memories.

The circuits used in the process of both extracting and inputting thought patterns were actually upgraded versions of the Testament, the machine used in the Sisters Project to give them all the knowledge necessary to fight him. A prototype had already been used some time prior to that, in the Dark May Project. Neither of them were events the white-haired esper took joy in remembering.

Incidentally, the fact that an engine situated in a limb was capable of interacting with the brain was state-of-the-art even by Academy City's standards. The change from the Testament, a helmet with plenty of cables and massive energy consumption, to the easy to carry and (as he noted offhandedly) self-sufficiency by means of tiny solar panels bracelet was a major improvement.

Seeing that it was safe, Accelerator resigned himself and built them again. But, he did not give it back to Last Order immediately. Instead, he took out his phone, searched for a contact and pressed the call button. He did not have to wait long before he heard the familiar click that signified the other side had picked up.

" _How rare of you to call nya~ Did you perhaps miss me?"_

"As if. You're still as annoying as always, I see."

" _Well of course~ But let's not talk about me. You have a favor to ask, right?"_

"..."

" _You don't need to hide it from me, I was waiting for your call. You want information about the game, I presume?"_

"Your source?"

" _I figured it out myself nya~. It wasn't that difficult, Musujime and Unabara already asked, so I figured you would, too. It took you longer than expected, I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me. I was seriously hurt, you know?"_

"Those two also called?"

" _They were also worried about the people they care about. They know as well as we do to what extents the Darkness can reach, so now that they were able to put them in a safe position, they'll take every precaution to keep them there. You're the same as them, aren't you?"_

"So, the information? And the price?"

" _Whoa, whoa, what's the rush? It's the first time we speak in such a long time. We should enjoy ourselves a bit nya~."_

Accelerator gritted his teeth. He could almost see the grin that was etching in his blond interlocutor's face, noting that the spy had decided not to comment on the fact that he had not negated the earlier statement.

" _But well, since it seems you are in a hurry, I'll be nice and just give you what you want. The game is safe. At last for now. There's no secret and no grand plan behind it, as far as I know. And, if there is, it's so incredibly complex that I am unable to see trough it, but it won't pose any danger to normal people. You know, typical Crowley plan._

 _Ah, this is a free service ok? You won't owe me anything for this. Think of it as a present to celebrate GROUP's reunion."_

This time Accelerator did nothing to conceal the snort that rose to his throat. GROUP was not the kind of organization where its members helped each other out of camaraderie or goodness of heart.

" _I heard that. Now I am truly hurt. Why won't you believe me?"_

"Why should I? We both know the kind of people we are. Not to mention" his voice took on a darker tone "looking back, both you and Unabara are form the "other side", right?"

" _Oh, how surprisingly observant of you. It doesn't matter right now, so I'll let that comment slide to avoid trouble and just give you proof to make you believe me."_

"And what would that be?"

" _First, I did the same for both Unabara and Musujime. Sorry, you don't get any special treatment nya~."_

"That means nothing."

" _I know, I know. The true reason would be – that I also have someone I care about that I would give anything to protect. We in GROUP were all the same. If that's still not enough, consider it a repayment for when you freed them after WWIII."_

The white-haired esper kept silent, pondering the words. It was true that all of the members of their team where gathered and put together by the Darkness by means of blackmail. It was not something they talked about amongst themselves, but they all knew. He had the clones, Unabara had his juniors (he remembered because they had visited once in the hospital before a job), Musujime had her comrades, and Tsuchimikado had his sister.

He took a few seconds to reorganize his thoughts and spoke.

"I'll believe you, for now. You better not bring this up later."

" _See? It wasn't that difficult. And now that we have that sorted out, I'll excuse myself. I guess I'll be seeing you around inside there, then."_

And with that he hung up. Accelerator clicked his tongue, but he was not displeased. That had turned out better than he expected, and a lot easier. Maybe the spy wasn't all that bad.

He picked up the horribly-colored bracelets and went to the living room, intending to give it back to the little clone, but he only met Yoshikawa.

"Are you done? Last Order was sulking because you wouldn't let her play, so Yomikawa took her along to help carry the groceries. She had to bribe her with a promise of a snack. Worst still isn't back."

He emitted a grunt in response, and headed back to his room again. Since he had free time, he planned to try for himself if that game was truly free of risk or not. He also had to admit that he was a little curious about that supposed new world, after hearing so much about it.

"Accelerator."

The esper stopped with a hand on the doorknob, indicating he was listening.

"Thank you. You were making sure it was secure, right?"

"Tch."

He resumed the gesture, opened the door and kept striding forward. Behind him, the scientist shook her head a bit and smiled.

* * *

Accelerator woke up for the first time in the middle of a forest. He grunted when he noticed what he was wearing (not that he cared that much, but all villains had an image to maintain, and those stupid clothes were not helping) and, as instructed by Yomikawa, started to search for the path that'd take him to the nearest town.

It was not until he had found it and had been walking for a good ten minutes that he noticed something, or rather, the lack of it.

He was missing his collar. Over the course of the last months, he had grown so used to it that he barely noticed it anymore, so it took time to notice its absence.

No, that wasn't the case. Why hadn't he noticed since the beginning? The collar was what connected him to the Misaka Network, which lend him its computing power to do all of the basic functions that his brain couldn't since it had been damaged by a bullet. If it was removed, the strongest esper would be reduced to a collapsed wreck incapable of movement, speech or rational thought. Then, the fact that he didn't detect it immediately meant…

The white-haired teenager left the trail and advanced through the woods, until he found a secluded spot where no one would bother him. Then, he approached a tree, raised his hand toward it and attempted to use his power.

The tree was easily lifted above his head, including its roots and the chunk of soil where it previously stood.

Accelerator grinned. Just in case, he decided to continue testing this unexpected but pleasant situation.

Fifteen minutes and ten hectares of destroyed forest later, the esper finally stopped. The wildlife that used to live there had all fled, terrified, and silence reigned in the area where not even birds dared to approach, in fear of the strange white creature that had gleefully laid waste to their habitat while laughing maniacally.

The forest wrecker had extracted the following conclusions from his rampage. One, his power was back. Two, it worked exactly the same as it did before his brain injury, and he could still use what he gained after it. He had checked briefly if he could use his black wings, and the results were positive. Three, his time limit was gone. The collar gave him thirty minutes of autonomy while using his ability. Since arriving there, he had been searching the path, walking and testing the limits of his regained power. He had exceeded that time by a large margin, and it did not seem like he was going to collapse any time soon.

Still, that last point was risky. He had left his collar in its default mode before connecting, which had a minor consumption and therefore lasted longer, but there was not telling what would happen if the battery ran out while he was inside this different land.

The fact that his ability had worked for longer that his choker could afford meant that there was another system that was lending its computing power to him. Also, he had examined in detail how exactly the bracelets worked before trying them on. Putting two and two together, it meant that the satellite he thought collected the information sent by all the players was helping him through the device in his wrist.

That was why, if he was inside this place when his battery no longer had the energy to connect him to the network, he probably wouldn't notice, because the devices in his neck and arm worked with different sources of power. If that happened, the moment he attempted to disconnect, he would find himself in a completely defenseless position.

Any person who had any kind of contact with the Darkness knew just how much danger that entailed.

The teenager disconnected immediately and, upon opening his eyes, checked the remaining battery in his collar. Fortunately, there was still enough to last for another couple of hours.

Accelerator decided to experiment. First, he checked the remaining exact time of battery and wrote it down. Then, he connected once more and, second by second, counted until five minutes had passed, and disconnected again. He looked up the remaining time and sighed in relief.

Exactly five minutes had been deduced from what he had written. That meant that time passed at the same rate both inside and outside the game. As long as he controlled how much time he spent inside, he could monitor his remaining time outside. He also had the alternative to connected the battery to a charger while he played, but that option would not always be available, so it was better not to rely on it.

There was one more reason for his relief.

His choker worked by providing stimulation to his brain, so if his mental process were halted and supported by the mysterious satellite, there was the chance his battery might drain either faster or slower because of the difference of his brain's reactions.

It didn't, so his mental process were undisturbed during his stay in the other side. That signified that the exchange of data with the mysterious satellite took place in the brain of the user, and not inside the spacial machine.

It meant that, if Last Order or any other Sister wanted to play, they would not be disconnected from the Misaka Network.

Since he had already started experimenting, Accelerator decided to just go ahead and check something he was curious about. When he was in the other side, his clothes changed and his choker disappeared, essentially taking away anything that he might had been carrying in the real world.

It was a matter of course if he thought about it. In order to put all of the players in the same starting line, stripping them bare of everything was the most effective way. It also implied that since Academy City students could use their powers, they were put in a position of power vastly superior to anyone else.

Accelerator pondered briefly if people from the "other side" could also use their powers, but dismissed the idea with a shrug. It wouldn't make any difference for him, so it wasn't worth it to think about it.

Anyway, that was the theory. It wouldn't cost to put it into practice and see for himself if absolutely nothing could be brought to the other side. He didn't have anything better to do at any rate.

During the next half hour, the esper gathered a variety of items, that ended up creating a pile by the side of his bed after they failed to be "transferred". The testing method was simple: he just put them closer to him, in a position where the object made contact with his skin, and connected. Once there, he eyed the vicinities for any trace of something that didn't belong to the (now demolished) forest.

So far, he had tried with clothes, a cup, a gun, a pen, a book, his phone, a piece of paper, some bandages, a watch, and even Last Order's device, but none of them had yielded any result.

(Next is… I should try some kind of accessory or jewelery.)

By now, he was almost convinced that nothing would work, so he decided to try one last thing and quit. His own choker gave him an idea he had yet to consider. After all, people wore accessories all the time. Maybe if someone wore one for long enough, it would be considered a part of him or her and transfer. Or maybe it was necessary for the person itself to think about it as a part of their body. The game operated on thoughts, so the possibility existed.

Either way, he ran into an unforseen problem. He didn't own any ornament.

Accelerator was the type of person who wasn't fond of superfluous things. Years of living in the Darkness left him with a disposition to carry with him only the basic necessities.

He would have to borrow something from Yomikawa or Yoshikawa. But what? A necklace was out of the question, it would be a pain to put it on without it tangling with his collar. A bracelet was also a no-go, he had more than enough with one. Sunglasses? The same spy he had spoken to not long ago grinned in his mind and he instantly discarded the possibility. Then maybe a ring? They were small and easy to put on. They were also comfortable. Yes, a ring would do.

He got up and headed to the living room.

"Oi, Yoshikawa" he started, while he opened the door "I need a ring."

CRASH!

Startled, he looked in the direction of the sound, to see Last Order standing there, with the remains of a plate by her feet, looking at his direction with mouth agape.

"Y-You can't! shouts Misaka as Misaka tries to stop you from making a life-ruining decision!"

"Wow, I didn't think he had it in him. But isn't he too young?"

"Who cares? Isn't it fine as long as they love each other?"

"What the fuck are all of you talking about?"

"GYAAAAAAHHH!"

Following the blood-curling scream, the main door was opened violently, and Misaka Worst entered clutching her head and gasping.

"Misaka can't handle this much negativity! Tou-san, hurry up and cheat on her or something so she ditches you!"

"Is it the blonde who calls you Shishou? asks Misaka as Misaka wonders when did she make your relationship progress that much."

"Oooh, the blonde girl from back then? She's even younger than you, right? As the older one, you have to be careful. Remember to use protection and, if an accident happens be sure to take responsibility, okay?"

"Wait, what are you doing? Get off me!"

"For some reason the negativity just spiked! Misaka doesn't have time to wait for you to decide to cheat by yourself, so Misaka will force herself on you and send her the photos!"

"From where the fuck did you take that camera from?! Let me go, I said!"

* * *

It took more than an hour to clear the misunderstanding. Exhausted, he decided to give up on the experiment with the ring. He was too mentally drained, and he wouldn't get more evidence than what he already had, so it did not matter that much.

The white-haired boy laid down in bed and closed his eyes. He had nothing to do until dinner, so he thought about checking the town Yomikawa talked about. With a thought, his body went limp and he appeared back amidst the demolished remains of the forest.

He used the trails of broken trees to locate the general direction of the path. When he asked earlier, the teacher told him that the highway followed a straight course to the city. With that much information, the next step was easy.

First, he made an estimate for how long would it take him to get to city had he not strayed, based on the number of people he had crossed while he was still walking on the track and the speed at which they were traveling. From that he derived the distance there was from the town to the point where he left the trail.

After that he calculated the distance he had traveled through the woods after leaving the path.

Finally, he triangulated the rough direction that would take him to the settlement. It'd be a waste of time to walk back all the way to the road, and besides, there was something that he wanted to do.

Immediately after he started walking, he did one of the things that he couldn't in the real world and that he missed dearly: he redirected sound. It was true he still did that from time to time, when the thugs attacked, but this time was different: he didn't do it out of necessity, but because he wanted to, and most important, there was no time limit. He didn't need to worry about running low on battery or wasting his effective fighting time with something trivial.

For a while, he just walked, enjoying the silence, something that appeared to be missing a lot in his life as of late. He kept advancing smoothly, and soon he relaxed and fell in a mechanic pace.

That was a mistake. Accelerator forgot that he wasn't walking in the safe main path, but through the forest, where danger lurked everywhere.

Maybe it was the fact that his hearing was cut off, or maybe it was the enjoyment that the respite brought him, but he failed to notice the small shadow that had crept behind him.

The arrow flew accurately towards the back of the unassuming prey…

...and embedded itself deeply in the trunk of a nearby tree.

The goblin could not contain a terrified shriek. It was sure its aim was good, and the prey hadn't noticed him, so how had the arrow ended up just above his head? If the monster had been 20cm taller it'd have died.

He nocked another arrow and shot again, making sure to aim well, and to put the maximum force he could into it. The projectile ended up in the same way, even more deeply ingrained than the one before.

By now, a normal person would question what was happening, and either leave the oddity alone or search for a more effective method to damage it. In fact, one would question why did the prey didn't react to an arrow impact, or why didn't he notice the scream.

Sadly, the tactical intelligence of goblins wasn't all that high. They were able to keep themselves unnoticed to ambush when they hunted, but their combat strategies consisted of cutting, smashing and piercing. If that didn't work, then they cut, smashed and pierced some more. If that still didn't work, they called for comrades to cut, smash and pierce even more.

The present goblin did just that. Being careful not to enter the prey's field vision, it emptied its quiver and, after failing to obtain any result, went to search for companions.

* * *

Guarding the entrance was usually a boring job and something most of the guards tried to avoid when they could. Nothing ever happened, monsters were too scared to approach the town and the people who passed through the gates were always the same: merchants who transported goods to other towns, some messenger, and the occasional hunter. The recent arrival of the foreigners excited things a bit, but after getting used to the loud voices, the constant stream of people entering soon became as dull and tedious as everything before. The fact that all of them wore the same clothes didn't help.

That was about to change.

One of the guards noticed a small movement in the border of the forest. It was nothing new, from time to time one of the foreigners would appear from there instead of following the normal path. He kept watching disinterestedly, and sure enough, a scrawny teenager with white hair and red eyes soon emerged from the woods.

What he did not expect were the hundreds of goblins that appeared immediately behind him.

After a few seconds of being thoroughly flabbergasted, he regained enough presence of mind to raise the alarm.

It took a bit of time for the guards to prepare, but they were able to equip themselves and take positions before the threat arrived. Once they were ready, they could only wait, so the majority of the defenders eyed nervously the assailants. Most of them could not help but frown and look at one another with gazes filled with bewilderment.

The boy walking in front wasn't all that rare. Sure, he had an unusual hair and eye color, but he wasn't the first to.

The behavior of the goblins, on the other hand, was downright bizarre.

For some reason, all of the more than two hundred monsters were advancing behind the boy. What's more, they were taking care not to surpass him in any way, and to maintain themselves out of his vision at all times. Whenever the youth turned his head, it would generate a massive ripple of goblins who would move in unison toward the opposing side, not letting him catch sight of them.

And, for some reason, all of them were attacking him. Arrows, knifes and rudimentary clubs flew at the back of the boy without pause. Mysteriously, the moment the weapons made contact with their target they were sent flying faster than they came, killing some of the goblins upon landing.

They prepared themselves to resist a monster invasion, but when the strange youth and his stranger entourage arrived, they were not sure what to think.

* * *

Accelerator had finally made it out of the woods. The town was nearby, only a few hundred meters separated him from the walls. The main path was a bit away, and a lot of people wearing the same robes as him were threading it.

He noticed that the people started to point at him and make a commotion, but he did not bother to restore the sound vectors. He was used to being recognized. He was the #1, after all.

When he approached the city gates, the guards, wearing metallic armor, were pointing spears at him. He could also see archers on top of the wall taking aim.

One of the men, whose armor was shinier than the others, took a step forward and seemed to shout something at him.

This was becoming annoying, but he manipulated the sound vectors anyway and returned them to their normal value.

"What?"

"I asked who are you and what do you pretend by coming here! Are you a [Summoner]? A [Tamer]? Why do you want to attack us?"

"Ha?"

"Why are you bringing a horde of monsters to our city! State your purpose, or we'll attack!"

Horde of monsters?

"What the fuck are you on about?"

"Are you trying to mock us? Do you think we are all blind?"

"As I said-"

At that moment, a thought struck the esper. While he walked, he couldn't hear anything. His reflection nullified any kind of attack. And Yomikawa did indeed talk about monsters, which lived precisely in the forest.

Maybe he had passed by some of them and they had followed him? He wouldn't have noticed them.

With a sharp movement, he turned his body around.

Silence descended.

The teenager didn't say anything, and neither did the monsters, who also stopped moving completely. The crowd of people who wanted to enter and had been attracted by the commotion, who had been commenting between themselves up until that moment, stopped talking. Even the guard leader who was shouting vigorously until a moment ago kept quiet.

Accelerator stared at the goblins.

The goblins stared at Accelerator.

And with an annoyed sigh, the esper tapped two times with his foot on the ground.

The first tap provoked two fissures to appear from the point of impact, which circled the horde by either side and joined behind them, and the second tap revealed that the fissures were not only propagating on the surface when a chunk of earth larger than a basketball court was tossed in the air, with the over two hundred goblins on top, and became a star in the horizon.

"Now" spat out Accelerator, turning back once more "can I pass?"

The only thing the guard leader could do was nod absent-mindlessly.

After the boy entered the city and the city and the commotion calmed down, one of his subordinates came to him and pointed to the missing soil, which had formed a hole the size of a municipal pool just in front of the gates.

"Captain, what do we do about that?"

* * *

 **This chapter struck me as somewhat sad. When I originally invisioned it, I planned to make it go like "aww, he cares about them", but when I was actually writing, the fact that a sixteen-year-old kid can't believe that one of the closest things to a friend he has wouldn't just help him for free, and moreover, he would normally be right, it's... well, sad.**

 **Anyway, on another note, next chapter is another different POV and then back to Touma.**

 **See ya!**

* * *

 **OMAKE (it's in Spanish)**

Un goblin verde

apuñalaba

a Accelerator en la espalda

y como veía

que no se caía

fue a llamar a otro goblin.

Dos goblins verdes...


	9. Chapter 8 - Speculations

**Hey there!**

 **We have reached a milestone. The number of reviews has passed the 100 mark. For a story with not even 10 chapters and less than 35k words, this is insane. As the author, I would like to give my thanks to everyone who has left a review. It means a lot. I hope you continue to read and enjoy in the future.**

 **Without more preamble, answers to questions:**

 **Agent Nine: I think this was stated in a previous chapter, but no, there aren't levels. As for boss monsters, you'll have to wait and see.**

 **Mandon/Mendon: No te preocupes, entiendo perfectamente el español. No hace falta que uses el google translator la próxima vez, que se nota mucho.**

 **javier: Si te fijas, la targeta la recogen después de entrar en la ciudad, y todo el capítulo transcurre antes. No se le ha olvidado, simplemente aún no ha llegado. En lo que respecta a las otras tres preguntas, prefiero no hace spoiler, así que no puedo responder, lo siento.**

 **And that was all. Really, thanks again. I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 8 - Speculations

Tokiwadai Middle School was one of the five most prestigious schools of Academy City, and the most renowned girls school in the world. It was situated in School Garden, an area which they shared with four other all-girl schools, where it was completely forbidden for men to enter. Consequently, all of the staff working there were women: from clerks to dorm supervisors all the way to teachers and directors.

The school boasted some of the best and most complete educative facilities, including a gym, a track field, a pool, a very complete library, music rooms for those students who needed to practice, and several others. Of course, all of them were created using the most advanced technology in the City, and guaranteed the best performance to ensure that the students had always the best possible learning environment.

As corresponded to a school as prestigious as this, the entrance requirements were as high as the school was good: it only accepted students who had reached at minimum Level 3 in the esper ability development program, had outstanding grades and a powerful background. Those terms were not negotiable, and the school had in fact generated quite a bit of trouble when they refused to admit a princess of a foreign country due to her not meeting the conditions needed to enter.

But all of that was not what made the young girls strive to study and raise their level so they could attend. Tokiwadai had a distinctive allure, one that no other education facility in Academy City could match: it was the only school where two Level 5 attended. Even Nagatenjouki Academy, which was reputed to be the best school, only had one.

Those two girls were idols at the eyes of their peers, adored and respected, and they could be seen walking around the hallways in the building. What lady would waste the chance to attend the same school as them? Whether because they wanted to establish a connection with influential people for their future or because of pure admiration, it was not an opportunity they could afford to miss.

Currently, one of those two Level 5 was walking through the front yard, heading to the main building. Along the way, she smiled and nodded to the red-faced underclassmen who gathered enough courage to speak to her, and exchanged greetings with the classmates she passed on the way.

They kept going in the same manner until they reached the stairs and went up to the second floor. This was normally used by her year, so underclassmen didn't come this way. There were no people in sight from her own age, either. The place was deserted.

After confirming that no-one could see them, Misaka Mikoto dropped her graceful posture and her perfect smile, and smashed any pretense of elegance by leaning her back in the wall and slumping to the ground in a decidedly unlady-like gesture.

Watching the Level 5 act in such a manner, the pigtailed girl who had been following by her side since earlier shook her head regretfully.

"Honestly, Onee-sama, why can't you be like before at all times? You were perfect. The way you acted, dignified and regal, that let everyone who lay eyes of you of your noble character, the tone you used to greet your admirers… Haa, haa… K-Kuroko can't resist it!"

"Cut it out, pervert. There's no way I'm keeping up that act at all times. It's tiring. Also, don't try to grope me just because we're alone!"

"Oh, Onee-sama, you don't have to be so timid. You brought me here, in this deserted place, with this much time before classes. This is obviously an invitation! As your partner, as your closest friend, what kind of person would I be if I didn't take advantage of it?!"

"I always come ahead of time because I want to avoid the crowds! We went through this already. Also, you followed me on your own! Isn't your next class in the other building?!"

"It's fine! If I teleport I'll get there in time! Onee-sama is more important than some silly class!"

"STOP. IT. NOW!"

A few zaps later, Shirai Kuroko calmed down and sat next to her roommate. They didn't have anything to do, so she took her phone from her pocket and started reading from there. More than a phone, it seemed like a metallic tube from where a screen unfolded, but Misaka was already used to her underclassman love for modern gadgets and didn't mind it. Instead, she looked over her shoulder to get a better view.

"Are those Judgment duties?" she asked, bored. Getting to class before time was good because she could avoid extra attention, but it had the inconvenient of having to wait until the actual lessons started.

"Not exactly. This is information that Uiharu gathered about the game. She sent it to me this morning and asked me to read it. But I guess it could be considered Judgment work."

"Oh? How can that be?"

"Mhmm." Kuroko stopped to think for a second. "You know about the Titles?"

"Yeah, of course. Is it related to them? Come to think of it, I never asked you. How did your first day go? Which titles did you get?"

"Really, Onee-sama, it's been four days since the game was released to the public, five for us students, and you only remember now? Kuroko is seriously hurt, you know?"

"Ahh… My bad."

Misaka rubbed the back of her head and gave a sheepish smile. Kuroko seemed a bit offended, but then, her eyes gleamed.

"It's fine, I will be fine as long as you go on a date with me to compensate. Nothing specially outstanding happened anyway."

"If you mean in-game, I'm fine with it. We could also call Saten-san and Uiharu-san and go on an adventure, the four of us!"

"I meant only you and I… Doesn't matter, I'll take what I can get. But, Onee-sama, it might take a bit of time to meet with those two."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll get to it later… By the way, my Titles were [Tokiwadai Middle School: Student], [Teleporter], [Level 4] and [Judgment: Member]."

"Eh? You got a Title for Judgment too? And how come you didn't get [Pervert] or [Stalker]?"

"I will ignore the last question out of love, and yes, I did. Uiharu did too, as did Konori-senpai. From what we have gathered, every active student in Judgment got it. It seems the organizations of this world also got transferred to the other one via Titles. Onee-sama, which ones did you get? I'm sure they were so dazzling that mine can't even compare."

"Hmm? Well, there was [Tokiwadai Middle School: Student], [Level 5: #3], [Railgun], [Strongest Electromaster], [Ace of Tokiwadai], and..."

At that point, she stopped. The game system was strangely thorough, and had given her some Titles that referenced some events in her life that she wasn't sure she was ready to share, even with someone as close as Kuroko. For example, mentioning that she obtained [Original] would lead to the secret of her clones, and [One Who Knows About Magic] might drag whoever asked to that world that worked with different laws. It hadn't been that long since she herself had discovered it and she knew very little, but that much was enough to determine just how dangerous it was, so she wasn't going to take any risk and allow her friends to find out.

And, even worse than those two, she had also received a certain Title, one that distressed her enough to alienate her from her friends for days, that had haunted her thoughts since she laid eyes on it.

What the hell was [Kamijou Faction: Core Member] supposed to mean?!

What the heck was that faction? Since when did it exist? No, before that, did that idiot really have a faction of his own? When had she become a part of it? What did it imply to be a "core member"? Who were the other members? In fact, were there other members at all?

She vaguely remember the fake Unabara mention it once, but her memories were fuzzy. After all, it was after that that the idiot had promised…

She shook her head vigorously and fought the blush that threatened to spread all across her cheeks, and took a deep breath to calm down. She then noticed her roommate looking at her worried.

"Onee-sama? Are you feeling well? Your face is a bit red. Here, let me check your temperature."

The teleporter moved closer and placed her forehead on top of her roommates, yet instead of being touched by the consideration and care the younger girl was showing her, Misaka's eyebrow twitched.

"Hey, Kuroko."

"Hmm… Your temperature hasn't risen that much. It doesn't seem like you have a cold…"

"That's fine and all, but what are your hands doing?"

When she had moved her body closer, both her hands had stealthily made her way towards the older girl's (modest) chest and were now busy confirming again and again it's shape and size.

"...Yes, Onee-sama's are definitely the best."

"I see. You can go to hell."

The next instant, a few thousands volts greeted the teleporter's head.

* * *

"So, what did you mean when you said it'd be difficult to meet Saten-san and Uiharu-san?"

Kuroko was skimming through the reports in her phone that her colleague had sent her again, after reviving and apologizing. She pointed to the screen as she answered.

"Uiharu's research was done based on the comments that people left in forums and other social networks, as well as some of the guides that foreign gaming companies released. It wasn't exactly a secret, but she confirmed it again: every person starts in a random location inside the game world. In some cases people from different continents interact together in the same city, but at the same time it is also possible to meet friends while walking through the streets or the market.

What's strange is that nobody had any language problems: even if the people they were talking with claimed not to speak any of the languages they were familiar with, they could understand what the other was saying all the same. Well, thanks to that the aleatory hypothesis was confirmed, so it's not like I'm complaining."

"Being alone gives more chances to make new acquaintances and provides a sense of adventure, so I was actually expecting that the developers would pull something similar. In fact, just having to travel to meet someone could be counted as an exciting experience.

And for a project this huge, developing an automatic, global translator wouldn't be that difficult. I'm sure I heard about a similar project somewhere before in a conference."

"Anyway, that's how it is. There is one exception, though."

"That would be us."

"Yes. First, students of the same school, and their teachers, started all in the same city. Luckily I was able to stay with you, Onee-sama. If only we could have also had our first experience together, everything would have been perfect."

"Don't go spouting things than can be misunderstood! ...Well, there's nothing we could do about that. Different years had the introduction at different times. You saw how big that cathedral or temple or whatever was, if all of the students of Tokiwadai went there, it wouldn't be able to cope with it.

On another note, what do you mean, 'first'? Aren't we the only ones that got the special treatment?"

"Hnng… That's true as well… About that, we students weren't the only ones who weren't transported at random. All of the people in Academy City weren't."

"What do you… Oops, hold on."

They heard the sound of footsteps going up the stairs. It was almost time for class to start, so some of the classmates of the Level 5 were staring to arrive.

The two girls stood up. Misaka changed her posture, raised her chin, straightened her shoulders, and put on a cordial smile just in time to greet the first of the ladies that arrived, accomplishing a transformation so fast and thorough that it would have made Cinderella proud.

As if nothing happened, she turned again towards her junior and resumed the conversation.

"What does it mean they were not transported at random?"

"That's the point. The people who received a device from any of the shops from the City were transported to a random location, but it was limited to a single Kingdom, the same where we students currently are."

"You mean they could end up in any city, as long as it's within its borders?"

"That's right. The people of the Church called it the Desert Kingdom, if I remember correctly. According to the reports, all of the cities where students started were similar in structure, had the same important buildings, and were situated in similar environments, that is, near forests. Also, Academy City citizens having restricted starting locations didn't affect any other countries."

"So we are confined in this Desert Kingdom, but anyone else can start both in these Kingdom and in the others?"

"That'd be the gist of it, yes."

"Hmm. I can understand that. I guess it was necessary."

Misaka displayed a thoughtful expression, and acknowledged with a nod the girls that were arriving to the hallway in groups of two or three. She then caught a glimpse of Kuroko's expression, and laughed a bit.

"It's easy to understand if you think about it. Remember when we went to Liberal Arts City? What do you think would happen if we got in trouble with the authorities there and we had to fight?"

"As a member of Judgment, I would do my best to prevent the situation to develop in a scenario where we had to use force but… if we really had to, I don't think we'd lose. And if Onee-sama also participated, victory would be guaranteed."

"And how would the people there see that? How would they react when a bunch of middle school girls overpowered trained adults and smashed their security forces?"

"...Ah."

"We're too strong. Esper powers make too much of an impact to be released to the world just like that. You don't notice that much because you're mostly here, where abilities are the norm, but when you go out..."

Her voice shook and her thought process derailed. Putting it in words had more of an impact in her psyche than she had initially thought, because she knew first-hand what kind of consequences that impression could make.

Fighting together with Accelerator in Hawaii had created some sort of commotion that made the idiot disappear and leave her behind again. She did not know the specifics, but the image of two teenagers dominating a battlefield by themselves had certainly been one of the causes.

She forced herself to ignore that depressive train of thought and got back to the topic at hand.

"Then, if by any chance an ability user didn't go to school last Monday and got his device from a shop, he would appear in a place where he'd be the only one with a special power. That'd be a massive advantage. It'd break the game balance, it'd create bad publicity, and a lot of other things.

By limiting the scope espers can influence to a single Kingdom, we don't mess too badly with the rest of the world, and the people from outside who starts here will consider it a free ticket to observe something that can only be seen in television or traveling from up close. It's a win-win situation. They're probably trying to gain time until the first espers start arriving to other countries to get the people used to their presence first."

"I see. I never quite thought about it like that." Kuroko had a pensive expression. "But if it really is as you say, then it may have backfired on them."

"How come?"

The hallway was getting increasingly noisy with the arrival of more and more girls, so the pair moved on to the class. The door hadn't been locked since the beginning, and they had been waiting outside out of habit rather than because they forgot to check if they could enter.

"Onee-sama, you know about the "Challenge", right?"

"Well, of course. It'd be difficult not to know about it when it's everything anyone has ever been talking about for the past days. What about it?"

"Challenge". That was how the people had taken to call the event announced three days ago. When they connected, players found that their plaques were vibrating a bit, so they took them out. Upon checking, they found a message that welcomed them to that new reality, and informed that, to honor them, a competition would take place a week from then. Participation was voluntary, and the winners would have the dubious reward of "having one of their wishes granted".

Of course, this had caused a huge commotion, and people had tried to gather more information by any means, but all that was obtained at the end of the day were the testimonies of the priests from all the cities. They claimed that they had also received an oracle, but that the instructions were limited to guiding whoever decided to participate to a certain location on the appointed date. Every player was left in the dark.

The message mentioned "Winners", from which it could be inferred that there were also "Losers", so the contest was probably a competition. As for what kind, they had no clue: it could either be a tournament, a free-for-all battle, a quiz or an exam, for all they knew. In any case, the mysterious deity that had sent the message was the one who organized everything, and the one who dared them to come and participate, hence the "Challenge".

"Did you know that the event was limited to the towns of the same Kingdom where all of Academy City's people started?"

"...What?"

"Uiharu checked the foreign net-boards for this. They do know about the "Challenge", because there are a good number of people who started here despite not being from the City, but their number can't compare with the ones that didn't. It seems there's an uproar worldwide because they see it as unfair that we get an event so early and everybody else doesn't."

"Hold it. Maybe the developers are still controlling events? Academy City should have been major developers, so it isn't impossible to try and gain a little advantage for its users, but I thought they had announced that there would be no human intervention, that the game was run automatically."

"The other countries have said nothing, so I don't think it happened. If I had to guess, it was coincidence that the god of that kingdom decided to act."

The time to start was five mere minutes away, and the girls outside had entered the classroom as well. Some of them had heard the conversation on-going between Misaka and their kouhai, and moved closer to hear.

The fact that none of them found strange that Shirai was in a classroom meant for people of a higher year spoke volumes of how long her Onee-sama-chasing tendencies had been in effect.

"No point arguing over it. Nothing we do is going to change anything, and it's not like I'm dissatisfied with having a fun competition."

"Onee-sama, what do you think the "Challenge" will be about?"

"Isn't it obvious? They created a world where I can go all out and nobody will die or complain for property damage, so of course it's going to be a fight! What about you?"

"I'm not particularly interested. After all, the one who can fulfill my wishes is not some random god, but only you Onee-sama!"

"Haha… I have lost the force to even retort. What are your thoughts on the matter?"

The other young ladies knew better that to interrupt a conversation between Shirai Kuroko and her Onee-sama, so they had been crowding around the duo without interfering. Now that they had been given an opportunity to join in, they jumped at the chance with enthusiasm.

"I believe it will be a treasure hunt! I read about them recently. We might have to look for a magic jewel or an ancient treasure in some ruins!"

"I think it will be some kind of mental test. After all, it wouldn't be fair to the non-espers who came to participate if we were allowed to use all our powers."

"I expect it to be a group activity. They did went out of their way to make people from the same school stay together. Plus, the teacher said that we should take this chance to meet new people of various backgrounds to expand our horizons."

"That sounds very plausible, senpai. Speaking of which."

Kuroko had been busy glaring at her upperclassmen for butting in, a clear show of disrespect towards seniority, but she stopped and took out her phone again. She unfolded the screen and started to look for something while explaining.

"If there is a competition between schools, it is probable that we won't clash only with the ones from our own city.

All we knew was that the people from each Church had to lead us players to an indicated place. Though they also said that nothing would happen if we were ahead of time, they were kind enough to show us its location in a map. When compared coordinates obtained in different cities, it seems that the number of locations is less than the number of towns. It's logic to assume that people from cities near each other will all compete in the same ground.

Judgment already had made a list of the schools in each city since the first day, to help monitor problematic espers who were likely to cause trouble, so after we checked in which towns gave the same coordinates, it was easy to made a list with the schools that will be going to the same place."

She showed the rest of the girls her phone. The document was displaying the name of several schools, organized in rows.

"I'm not worried anyway. Because as long as Onee-sama participates, Tokiwadai will be invincible."

"That's right! Misaka-sama won't lose to anyone!"

"Tokiwadai's dignity will surely be protected."

"If Misaka-sama and Shokuhou-sama team up, no matter what challenge, they will surely lead us to victory!"

The excitement was spiking, but Misaka was not amused. She reached for Kuroko's phone and spoke with a cool voice.

"Stop it. Have you forgotten what happened during the Daihaseisai?"

Her words sent a wave that spread like ripples and calmed the mood. Some of the girls looked down, some of them bit their lower lip in regret, and some of them just remained silent.

During the competition, they had a match that they lost. And it wasn't against a powerful or special school. They had already lost before against Nagatenjouki, for example. It wasn't for nothing that they considered them their rivals. And Kirigaoka also accomplished the same feat from time to time, when they obtained someone with a particularly high and effective ability.

No, they lost against a weak, little school, whose higher Levels were 3, and even those were a minority. They lost against those they had absolute confidence of defeating.

And, the causes of that loss were clear.

Disregard for the opponent. Arrogance. Overconfidence.

Misaka continued.

"Keep in mind that we will not only be facing other students from Academy City. A lot of people from outside will be coming too. We don't know what any of them will be capable of. Of course, we can't disregard the lower level schools, or we may end up like that time. And remember," she said, raising her head form the screen and looking at them all "don't put blind confidence in me. There are people whom I can't defeat, either."

The schoolgirls took in a deep breath. Right. Misaka Mikoto was the #3 ranked Level 5, and even assuming she teamed up with Shokuhou, who was ranked #5, there were still 5 more. The difference in power with the #4 and the #7 was almost nil, and there was no available information on the #6. Not to mention the #1 and the #2, who were rumored to be leagues above the other five.

"But don't worry. That also applies to everybody else. Hey Kuroko, I can't find our school here. Which group is ours?"

"The second-to-last one of the second row, Onee-sama."

"Hmm… Oh, here it is, here it is. Let's see, let's see…"

She started to read the names of her likely opponents, and at the same time, displayed a defiant grin.

"As I said, that goes for everyone. Meaning, no matter the opponent, there's always an opportunity of winning. So it doesn't matter who we fight! If we all join forces, we will have a chance, even against Accel-"

Her words abruptly stopped. Her classmates, who were in high spirits after the rousing speech, looked on at their idol, only to find her with her mouth still open in shock, staring unblinkingly at the screen.

With trembling hands, she gave back the phone to her roommate. Then, she took two steps back, sat down weakly on a chair, and muttered, with a hollow voice and a lifeless gaze:

"Oh god. We're screwed."

"M-Misaka-sama!"

"O-Onee-sama?!"

The students were dazed more than scared. What had happened? A second ago, she was brimming with vigor and confidence, and she suddenly seemed to deflate like a balloon. The cause was obviously something she just read, so they did the same, but they failed to find any obvious threat. As luck would have, they had no major rivals. Some of the institutions were relatively well-known, but for the most part they were all mostly attended by Level 0s.

They tried to bring her back to reality, but all attempts proved futile. Just when they were considering to go search for a teacher or a nurse, she arrived.

"Oh my, Misaka-san. You're looking real awful there."

Shokuhou Misaki, the #5 Level 5, entered the classroom, followed by some of the members of her clique.

"What happened to your usual energetic attitude ability? The image you're giving is unbecoming of a lady and a Level 5. What's wrong? Did you get into a depression because the latest method you tried failed to produce any result for your bust size ability again?"

When Misaka still didn't produce any response, she frowned a little. That was weird. That particular topic was a sure-fire way to rile her up, no matter the circumstances, and it hadn't failed her until now.

"Queen! Thank goodness you're here. Misaka-sama has been like this for a while now, she doesn't react to anything."

A girl with liliac-colored hair with impressive ringlet curls explained the situation since the beginning, and handed the list that she borrowed form Kuroko to her leader, so she could confirm things for herself.

The level 5 scrolled down, and started reading the list of names, taking the chance to dish out some more teasing now that her rival was incapacitated.

"Honestly, Misaka-san. Losing your composure that badly because of an opponent? It doesn't matter who you're up against, you should at least keep a minimum decorum abi-"

Her words abruptly stopped. With trembling hands, she gave back the phone to her subordinate. Then, she took two steps back, sat down weakly on a chair, and muttered, with a hollow voice and a lifeless gaze:

"Oh god. We're screwed."

"Q-Queen!?"

"Shokuhou-sama too!?"

With the two Level 5 completely out of it, the young ladies were at a loss for what to do, but then they heard a somewhat strained laugh.

"Ahaha… Ahahahahaha… Hahahahahaha!"

When they turned to see, Misaka Mikoto revived and jumped from her chair, adopting a gutsy pose with her hands on her hips.

"W-Worry not! This Misaka-san has already defeated _him_ once! I can do it again! No problem! Piece of cake! C'mon, bring it on!"

Her eyes were swimming, but another event prevented the young ladies of Tokiwadai to notice the fact.

"Oho?"

Shokuhou Misaki, not to be outdone, also came back to life, jumping from her chair and landing in front of her fellow Level 5.

"What's this I hear? Misaka-san, don't tell me you consider that a victory? Has your dignity ability reached the same level as your breasts?"

"W-What do you know?"

"You're talking about what happened at Denmark? An acquaintance of an acquaintance saw it all and told her, and then I made a deal so she would give me a copy of the footage. Thanks to that I owe that old hag a favor ability."

"What?! There was nobody nearby! I am sure of it!"

"That particular acquaintance has ties to the Board of Directors and was monitoring him from space since the beginning. She saw everything. Now, would you like to know everything he went through before you had your fair duel ability?"

Misaka gulped. Back then, she caught up to him just in time to save him when he was being chased around by FIVE_Overs, and then just attacked him. But thinking back, he had become the enemy of the world at that time. Still, he didn't seem in that bad shape during their fight. He had mentioned "risking his life against legitimate threats", but since he could go around just fine, it couldn't be that bad, right?

That illusion was shattered to pieces as soon as her blond rival started to talk.

"Let's see. For starters, he took out Accelerator."

"...Huh?"

Her thoughts ground to a halt. The first time, in order to defeat that monster, he had needed the help of all the sisters, and still ended up in bad shape. Well, to be completely honest, it was possible she had part of responsibility in that, because of her outburst at the bridge, but it was still a titanic task nonetheless.

And he did that before fighting her. Alone.

But Shokuhou did not stop there. Her starry eyes showed she was furious and she would absolutely not let that go. The very notion of him losing against her was _ridiculous_.

"After that, he had to infiltrate a town full of English elites, and took a full blow of their secret weapon. He succeeded in escaping, but his arm was dislocated in the process.

Then it seems he had an encounter with some Russian VIP's, but I don't have a lot of information of that. And then he was knocked out and brought to a floating fortress, and to escape he jumped from 1500 meters high without parachute.

Next thing, the visual feed was cut off, but we assumed he was fighting a member of an enemy organization."

(GREMLIN), thought Misaka.

She didn't know much, but she was aware they existed. Magicians. People who were not espers, and yet could wield equivalent, if not greater, powers as them. The GREMLIN member was surely a magician. And those Russians probably were too.

"He was captured and had a discussion with some big-shot, but he convinced them to let him go. After that came the FIVE_Overs."

A part of Mikoto wondered why Shokuhou knew about the top-secret battlefield monsters, but most of her mind was still trying to process all the new information.

"Oh, and he did all of that while protecting someone who could not fight."

And now Mikoto's mind truly became blank. The reason he had made the world into his enemy was because he had defected to Othinus' side, and the reason she was so feared was because of her immense power that no one understood. But she couldn't fight? He had gone through everything _without_ her help?! She thought she hadn't intervened against her because he asked her. But thinking about it, had she had the power, would they have found themselves in a situation as compromised as that?

"Not to mention that the entire time he traveled, he was doing it through snowy plains at minus fifteen degrees and without any kind of warm clothing."

Well, that one was true.

"For hours."

...

"Was that enough of a handicap ability for your fair duel, Misaka-san? I'm not done yet. What about his mental state? The video showed you two talking, but because it was taken from the space with ultra-high resolution cameras, there was no sound and I don't know what was it about. However, his expression said it all. He had just passed through something hideous, didn't he?"

That was something that was still puzzling her to this day. She had given him her own answer to his fears of a perfect world, but she did not understand how something as ridiculously big as that could possibly happen without anyone noticing. Though, judging by his words, nobody noticing seemed to be part of the deal.

"And that's not the biggest issue. Hey, Misaka-san. Did you notice that through the fight, _he didn't attack you once_?"

That was the final blow. Misaka Mikoto's train of thought totally, utterly and completely stopped.

"If you still think it was your victory after all I said, then don't bother having any kind of contact with me from now on. There's no point in having any connection ability with someone who can't even face reality."

Misaka wasn't listening to her. She was replaying their battle in her head. Him messing with her control over the war machines, him negating her iron whips as per usual, a bit of a tussle, the verbal exchange, and finally her embracing him in an electric hug.

It was true.

He had not raised his fist against her. Even during the struggle, the most he did was toss her apart from him using his foot as a spring. And she fell in the snow, so not even the landing had hurt.

That meant…

That meant…

That meant…

It was just like every other time. The only thing that changed is that he had allowed her close because he was distressed, and she took the chance.

He didn't give it his all.

He didn't face her seriously.

Misaka snapped.

"THAT BASTAAAAAAAARD! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM NEXT TIME! I'LL MAKE HIM FACE ME SERIOUSLY! JUST YOU WAIT!"

* * *

Kamijou Touma felt a chill run down his spine, but dismissed it in favor of more pressing matters. Literally. He was sure that the compressing force that Index's jaw exercised on his skull wouldn't lose to a hydraulic press.

"More misfortune, huh. I wonder why it doesn't surprise me."

* * *

That day, in School Garden, started to circulate a rumor about a nameless and invincible monster.

* * *

 **Rather lenghty this time. It was mostly to introduce what'll happen in the next few ones, so I hope it didn't become boring midway. Next chapter, we'll be back to Touma and Othinus, and it will be the beginning of the Challenge.**

 **See ya!**

* * *

 **OMAKE**

Misaka Mikoto revived and jumped from her chair, adopting a gutsy pose with her hands on her hips.

"Worry not! Why, you ask?"

She gave her most winning smile and continued.

"FOR I HAVE COME!"

The rest of the class watched in mute amazement, overwhelmed by the sheer charisma she was radiating.

Except for one starry-eyed individual.

"...The heck?"


	10. Chapter 9 - MPK

**Hey there!**

 **Last chapter were the reviews, this time it's the follows that have surpassed the 100 mark. I can't do anything but thank everyone who has shown interest in my story, again.**

 **Answers to questions:**

 **AxelLord20: I'm sorry, who will meet who, when and how are pretty important points in the story, so I can't answer that. What I can tell you, is the ones that have already been revealed. Same school starts at the same town, so Mikoto, Kuroko and Misaki will probably meet, and the same goes for Saten and Uiharu, who attend the same school. Touma and Othinus are also together, though that was because her device was a bit special.**

 **Guest: Good job catching the English being catholics, it's nice to know there's people paying attention to the little details. The case is, that was intentional. Misaki, Kumokawa (the acquaintance) and Amano Kaguya (that's the girl who lives in the space from NT10, who recorded the whole thing and handed it to Seria, aka the acquaintance of an acquaintance) are all from the science side. They don't know how the magic side works, so they don't know about the denominations. From their point of view, the information they have to judge to which power the soldiers belong is limited to where they come from. The Agnese forces are residing in London, so they consider them English.**

 **Nothing else to say besides hoping you will enjoy the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 9 - MPK

If one wanted to walk through the desert, there were several measures that should be taken.

First, wearing some kind of headgear to guard the head from the sun was a must, because it helped to avoid heatstroke as well as to protect the eyes. In the same note, sunglasses were also a recommended asset.

What kind of attire was worn was important as well. Inexperienced people may think that, in order to withstand the heat, the less cloaking the better, but in reality, the opposite stood true: the intensity of the sun was much higher than anywhere else, so showing skin was dangerous. It was preferable to cover as much as possible to diminish the risk of suffering sunburn. That was the reason why the traditional desert tribes' garb only exposed the eyes and hands.

As for footgear, boots were the top choice. Whether for walking in rocky ground to protect the feet, or to march across sand without letting it get inside the shoe, they surpassed all other types of footwear.

Besides clothing, there were other things to bear in mind, such as carrying enough water, making sure to take rests often enough, and having means to warm oneself if the journey would take more than one day, to resist the cold of the night.

Being a God who ruled over the frozen land, Othinus sure knew a lot of useless trivia about deserts.

Why was it useless?

Because at that moment, in front of Kamijou Touma, there was a crowd walking across sandy dunes while completely ignoring all of that excellent advice, and being perfectly fine. Most of them were young people, but some kids could be seen here and there running around. There were even some elders with the group too, admiring the scenery as they advanced at a leisurely pace.

"Ooooi. You ok back there?"

"Haa, haa, haa… More or less, yeah."

The one who asked was Alex, the red-haired novice. She was in charge of leading the group. And, the one who answered was an unfortunate boy with spiky black hair.

When they heard the exchange, a number of heads turned towards the back of the procession. Some of the younger people sneered, while some of the adults threw him gazes filled with sympathy. The had gotten used to the routine, because it had been repeated several times over the last couple of hours.

* * *

It had been five days since the prophecy, and it was finally the appointed date. Masses of people flocked to the center of each town, where it was scheduled for the local priests to guide the people to the grounds where the Challenge was to take place. Those who decided that they didn't want to partake in it watched the people pass and commented between themselves.

The day before, the clerics received a new oracle which they publicized. Whoever wanted to participate in the event had to report in front of the Church. Every two hours, a priest would be dispatched to guide the present group to the appointed place. The location was outside the city, a revelation that the supporters of the tournament theory used to give credibility to their claims.

As one would expect, almost every member of Kamijou's class wanted to participate. And obviously, Fukiyose rose to the challenge, organizing everyone. Since they still had classes in the morning, they agreed (were forced to) meet after school, after having lunch, in front of the temple, to travel together in the same group.

And, of course, Touma was late.

There was a perfectly good reason for that. After returning home, he had engaged in a heated negotiation with Othinus to try and avoid her killing everyone in sight when she entered the game. She had decided that the Challenge seemed an amusing enough thing to spend time on, and resolved to accompany him.

That put him in a dilemma. He didn't have the means to dissuade her, but at the same time, he dreaded the reactions of his classmates when they discovered that the doll of an embarrassing half-naked girl that he played with using ventriloquism was real would be. So, at least, he tried to make sure that she wouldn't murder them all.

It seems that the rumor that a scantily-dressed girl with an eye-patch and a witch's hat was a [Grandmaster] had been circulating around town, which meant they received a lot of attention from the residents wherever they went. As for the regular players, they didn't need the incentive of a Title. The "scantily-dressed" part attracted plenty of onlookers as it was.

Naturally, Othinus' response was to kill them all, for reasons like being annoying or looking her way too much. When Kamijou tried to lodge a complain that it was her fault for dressing like that, the answer he received was could be summarized as "Imma God and I do what I want, deal with it".

He managed to avoid a massacre somehow or another by taking her out of the city immediately under the pretext of hunting, and avoiding other people as much as possible once in the forest. That seemed to put her in a good mood. Strangely, when he explained the activities of the day to Index during dinner, she bit him saying that it was unfair.

Speaking of Index, she was fine, in-game. The first time around she had connected, neither she nor Touma had known that everybody would start in different locations, and she had waited for him for a bit right where she awakened. Some time later, she grew impatient and left alone for the nearest city. Once there, she had the luck of meeting with one of the clones, who was in the cue to receive the blessing. Index joyfully joined her, and the two had been playing together ever since.

Kamijou didn't know exactly which clone she was, since Index referred to her as "Short-hair's sister", but was grateful nonetheless. The Sisters were Level 2 or 3, so as long as they were together, Index should be safe. He made a mental note to properly convey his thanks next time he ran into any clone.

Anyway, Kamijou put to use his bargaining skills, cultivated over long years of being a poor high school student with an even poorer stipend, and settled the deal: Othinus wouldn't attack in exchange for three plushes.

Lately, Othnius' currency were stuffed dolls. When the predatory impulses of Sphynx awakened, she could throw one of those as bait and run. The immobile toys made for a better target than the running girl, so the destructive feline fury fell on them, leaving her safe. With the interest the god was showing recently in video-games, he called them "lives".

After the successful transaction, he started happily preparing dinner. He didn't know how long that "Challenge" would last, but there was no guarantee that they would be done by dinner time. It was better to prepare in advance, to avoid future attacks to his skull while he was unprotected.

About ten minutes later, he remembered that the other party was a deity of deceit and betrayal, so he had to hasten the cooking to hurry and connect in order to try to avoid a catastrophe.

When he found her, there was already a large crowd surrounding her, and she was holding the spear in her hands, smiling. The people thought she was going to give another demonstration and was cheering with all their might, but Touma knew better, and dragged her away from the scene.

This infuriated the crowd, who followed them, jeering all the way. Kamijou started to become nervous, because Othinus was still happily waving the spear around. He walked faster and faster, but the mob didn't let up, and the girl wasn't being specially collaborative either.

He ended up running at full speed while holding her in a princess carry (a specific part of the crowd started to actively curse at him upon doing so), rounding corners and sprinting through alleys, while trying not to impale himself with the damned spear.

By the time he managed to shook of the last of their pursuers, the meeting time had already long since passed.

* * *

Kamijou made his way to the front of the Church. Nobody tried to stop him like before. He had the kind of plain face that one would forget after passing by in the street, so that was no surprise.

Despite that, he received some odd looks here and there.

How could that be? And where had the attention-grabber deviant, Othinus, gone?

The answer was: his shoulder.

"You do realize that you can change your clothing, right? With all the worlds you created, why is making a little tiny bit of fabric that hard for you?"

"The bells sounded just a few minutes ago. I stayed a bit around town while you were in school, they made them sound every hour. The departures are every two hours, and you were to met your friends more than an hour ago. Assuming they had calculated the time, then if we leave now for the church we will have to wait less than an hour until the next bell and expedition."

"You're ignoring me again? We should get going then. Fukiyose is going to kill me. I hope we aren't heading to some kind of Tournament Arc where for some reason every one of your acquaintances ends up participating, including your kouhai and your teacher. Now that would be terrifying. Wait, you were around town before? How come there isn't anyone talking about this? Those groupies from before were really persistent, but they didn't mention anything either. Unless… is that it?! You disguised yourself?! You can't put on a mere cloth with me, but can actually disguise yourself when you're alone?!"

"Don't be foolish, human. Do you really believe there is someone for whom it'd take those kind of bothersome actions?"

"Yeah, I thought so. So you used magic, right?"

"Of course I didn't."

"Then why are you looking the other way?"

* * *

"You're late."

"Sorry about that. Various things happened."

"They better be important. You know, Nora was looking forward to this. She even asked that big-foreheaded friend of yours when would all of you be coming yesterday, so she could get the turn to guide you. It's a bit of a long stretch, so there's a lot of time to talk about things. And you went and didn't show up. Well, at least you didn't come with another girl."

The one who gave him the enthusiastic reception was Alex. When they got to the Church, they found that instead of the usual two or three lines for newcomers, a single cue had formed. Touma waited for a time, and it was finally his turn.

"Ah, whatever. Divine punishment will befall you anyway. Go and wait with the rest until it's time to go." She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder to the group of people.

"Uh? Then why did I…?"

"Just go already!"

"Yes ma'am!"

He moved out of the way for the next person, and stood aside.

"So now we wait, huh?"

"Seems like so." The tiny god didn't seem to care much.

With no other choice, he just let time pass, observing the surroundings.

The reason his treatment was different than the rest became clear after watching the next couple people in the queue. Alex brought a palm to the forehead of the other party and muttered a few words. Then, she told them to stand aside.

The scene repeated itself frequently, but as many people came his way were the ones who just left after exchanging a few words with the cleric.

"What are they doing?"

"It's a blessing. Protection and guidance for those who travel the desert."

"And you know that because?"

"I hear them talk."

"Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot about your powers again. Since you're miniature I was just considering you a load. Not that you weigh that much, don't worry. I know you girls worry about this things."

"Hmm. I think you know, but augmenting my physical capacities doesn't qualify as magic. Ripping your ear out from where I stand would be rather easy."

"Right, if you can hear them, do you know why are half the people who come leave?"

"I see, so you have matured to the point where you can ignore my threats. Well done, human. I expected no less of you."

"Hmm?" He looked at her, confused. "Oh! Right, you can actually do it now. Y'see, you complain pretty much all the time in the real world too, so you being mini made me forget."

"Then let's give you a reminder so you don't forget again, shall we?"

"Mh? Oh, I se- Gyaaaaaaaaahhhh!"

"A joke is only funny the first two times! Were you really going to do it again?!"

"It hurts it hurts it hurts! M-My ear! You'll rip it apart for real! Oh great god, I pray for mercy to thee!"

"Hmph." She released him and concentrated on the queue. "If you must know, the ones who leave are people who only wanted to see if there was more information available. There isn't, so they don't dare participate." She snorted. "Pathetic. Prudence is fine, but too much of it is nothing more than cowardice."

At that moment, a bell sounded. Immediately after, another novice, the one with black hair and huge… assets, either Retta or Lena he seemed to remember, stepped out from the church and took over the line. Alex headed for their group.

"We're leaving!"

And just like that, she started walking away form the church.

* * *

"So that's what she meant for divine punishment… Such misfortune."

There weren't any problems at first. After setting off, they left the city, and walked through the woods. The forest wasn't particularly leafy, so there weren't any complications at this point either.

But, gradually, the trees grew more and more apart from each, and the grass under their feet became more and more sparse, until there was no longer any blade in sight. The soil became sand. Before they knew it, they were no longer strolling about in the woods, but traveling a sandy desert.

"Should I question why a humid environment is coexisting side by side with the most arid place on the planet, or just say "MAGIC!" and move along? Honestly, this is worse than cheat codes."

"So far, everything about this world could be explained with the laws of the other one. If the trend continues, then it is very possible that some kind of large-scale magic phenomena affects this place. Alternatively, maybe the topography of the terrain permits this kind of arrangement. I have yet to ascertain how the ley lines work here, or if there are any at all. Thinking about it, I haven't checked the stars either."

"But that kinda stuff only works for really big spells right? I mean, that artifact that was going to swallow Academy City and convert all of us was the only thing I heard about that uses them. Oh, and the knife of the guy who was after Misaka too."

"If you're talking about the spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, it used Venus as the source of power, which isn't a star. But that raises another point of concern. Most of the religions have some kind of relationship with astrology. There's a sun up there, but it remains to be seen if the creators went through the effort of placing every single star out of the ones known. In magic, minimal differences can lead to huge changes."

"This is a fantasy world, or at last it's supposed to be one. Nobody else seems to mind. All that talk to say "MAGIC!""

They kept going forward for a bit more, until Kamijou noticed something.

"This is kind of tiring."

Walking in the sand was not the same as walking in normal ground. For people not used to it, it placed a bigger burden on the legs, and it sapped away the stamina at an accelerated speed.

Kamijou took a look around, and was surprised to see that no one else seemed to have any difficulty. And then Alex, who was walking at the forefront, turned her head and gave him a warped smile.

"Haha… "Protection and guidance for those who travel the desert", is it… Sigh."

The blessing that they took time to individually concede to everyone before parting was undoubtedly for now. It allowed to walk in the desert as one would in a normal road, ignoring the sand, the dunes that were starting to appear, the sun, the heat…

As they kept going, Kamijou was progressively left behind by everyone, until the point where the group had to slow the pace a bit to accommodate him. It wasn't that the spiky-haired boy was lacking in stamina, just that the conditions were harsh.

Alex checked on him from time to time, fulfilling her duties as the escort. The rest of his travel companions either smiled at him or sneered. The first group were the people who had arrived before him, and saw him pass without the blessing. They probably thought that he was in bad terms with the novice girl and she was taking a jab at him, or something similar. The second group were the ones who had arrived after him.

"Well, it's obvious they'd react that way. They don't know that you haven't the blessing, so for them, you're just a big zero in fitness."

"So now I'm a Level 0 even in P.E.?"

At that moment, something changed. A cloud of dust rose from afar.

"What's that? A sandstorm?"

"Is it coming here?"

"Hey hey, don't joke about that."

"Everyone, calm down." Unrest started to spread among the travelers, but Alex quickly raised her voice. "The blessing you received not only allows you to travel comfortably, it also let's us avoid sandstorms and monster attacks. No matter what the threat, as long as the Goddess protect us, nothing in the desert will harm you."

The people exhaled relieved, and continued advancing in high spirits. However, instead of passing by as the novice claimed, the cloud continued to enlarge.

"Hey, human."

"What is it?"

"That's no sandstorm." From her shoulder, her voice didn't change form before when she was delighting in showing off her knowledge, but the words she spoke were anything but easy to accept. "That's a monster horde."

"What? Are you sure?!"

"Are you doubting me?"

"Crap!" Kamijou started to sprint to warn Alex, but Othinus didn't stop talking.

"I'm not done yet. For some reason, there's someone running at the front of the monsters."

"A person on front of… Shit! A train!"

"A what?"

"Heyyyy! That isn't a storm! It's a train! An ambush!"

Panic started to spread among some of the travelers, specially the young ones, but the rest remained unaware.

"You! What are you shouting for? Calm yourself!"

"That's not a natural phenomenon! It's a bunch of monsters, and they're heading for us!"

"No way. We're protected by the Goddess. No matter the circumstances, monsters won't come attack us." Her gaze grew slightly complicated. "Maybe they detected you? The blessing didn't work because of your hand..."

"That's why I'm saying that it's a train! They wouldn't come if they were simply wild, but it's different in this case! There's no time to argue. Is there anywhere we can hide? Behind a dune? But they have seen us already, so it wouldn't work..."

Alex realized that not only was the boy in front of him nervous, the group who understood the meaning of his words was also growing restless by the second. She took a deep breath and concentrated.

Assuming that what the boy said was true. If the dust cloud was indeed raised by monsters, then there had to be a considerable number of them. It would be impossible to fight them head on, as only a portion of the participants were carrying weapons, and furthermore, they were clearly no used to them. The only one who could use something remotely similar to magic amongst them was she herself, but as her name indicated, the Goddess from whom she drew strength was not suited to direct confrontations.

The boy who could negate God's miracles was without a doubt an oddity, but it was best not to rely in unknowns too much.

Fighting was not an option, so they could only retreat. But, a sand desert did not exactly offer a lot of cover. In that case...

"We need to burrow under the sand."

"What?"

"Oioi, don't joke, if it burns here, it must be scorching down there! We'll become toasted roast!"

"Quiet, all of you! You have received the blessing of the Goddess of Self-Sacrifice, deity of the arid lands. The heat won't affect you. The ones who have weapons, start digging, and the rest try to help as you can. Hurry!"

Kamijou watched the proceedings with a bitter gaze.

"Stop sulking, human. It doesn't matter if you can't help them, it's not like could go down there yourself without that protection of theirs. You'd boil yourself alive."

"Yeah, yeah. So? Any ideas?"

"How about you try relying on me more often? If you're my understander you must know what I'm thinking about."

"I know, slaughter them all. I thought we talked about this, no magic."

"Again, you underestimate me too much."

At some point, the girl's body had appeared again at it's original size, lance in hand. She then walked to the side of the dune the rest of the people were frantically trying to excavate and made a sweeping gesture.

Huge winds arose as a result of the blow. All of the surrounding sand rose high in the air, creating a cloud of its own, which enveloped the group and cut their vision off.

"This should avoid the other party from noticing what we do. If you lay down, the suspended sand will fall and naturally cover you. After the dust settles, for the others it'd be like we vanished."

The people could only nod numbly and follow their instructions, lying down and trying to keep as still as possible.

Kamijou did the same, and soon Othinus came to his side as well.

"Brute force is a good thing to have, but you won't win wars based on that alone. Knowing how to use what you got in hand in a flexible manner is what truly matters."

Her head, which was looking up, rolled a bit to the side and she looked at him, with a small smile tugging at her lips.

"You should know this already. After all, that's the way you've been using the power of your right hand all this time."

Touma's position was similar to his companion with his back towards the ground, but he did not have the luxury to talk.

"Yes, very impressive, but -cough, cough- you could notify in advance too, you know? Blergh… I got sand all over my face, and it's entering my mouth."

"The dust should settle in a few minutes, but after that we'll have to wait a bit more until the monsters pass by. We have time to talk. What does this train you spoke of mean?"

"Bleaaaargh… Cough. Hmm? A train? You know, that thing that runs on rails, that ran into Thor? Wait, he jumped by himself, so maybe that was suicide? But no, I was the one who made him. I guess assisted suicide would work better here."

"I know what the machine is, human. I'm asking about the word you used when I told you that there was someone running before the monsters."

"Ooooh, that! It'll take a bit to explain. You know, in mmorpg, the monsters are just running all over."

"Yes, so?"

"Y'see, they don't attack your character till you're inside a set range. When you enter that zone, then they follow you and attack you, until you kill them or run far enough from their original zone.

When a character just walks through a bunch of these danger zones and attracts a lot of monster at the same time, then that's called a train. Sometimes, they do this and run towards another player. Then, they use a skill to make all of the attention of the monsters disappear from them, and that focus goes to the other character by default, who is forced to fight with the horde at the same time. That's called Monster Player Kill, or MPK for short."

"Hm. So the plan was to disconnect when they reached us and let the monsters do the job?"

"I guess so. It takes an hour to be able to connect again after leaving the game. If we left in a panic, then by the time we came back the guide would have left and we'd have no way to get to the Challenge grounds."

"So their objective was to get ride of possible rivals? How stupid. They don't even know what the trial is about. It could be something where more competitors gives better odds."

"I don't know. The guy who does this is also stuck here the same as the others, so he is probably sacrificing himself for a group. Other members could have left the town earlier and be competing already. Besides, preparing all of those monsters should take time. It's not something they could just pull off at the drop of a hat."

"They have arrived, human. Be silent for a bit."

Touma held his breath as he felt vibrations in the sand. He was almost completely buried, except the face, and he mostly kept his eyes shut to avoid looking at the sun. It felt a little like sunbathing. The vibration grew closer, and he finally opened his eyes to catch a peek at what kind of monsters they had sent.

What he saw was a scorpion. A giant, scary scorpion. It was at least three meters high and it measured even longer, and that was without counting the tail, which by the way had a sting that was gleaming with a really unhealthy-looking poisonous purple color. Its body was mostly light brown, imitating the color of the desert.

Thankfully, it left after roaming about the zone for a bit, the same as the rest of its kind, judging by the fading trembling of the sand.

Kamijou waited for a bit to make sure they didn't come back, but was interrupted when he thought he'd finally be released.

"Is it over? Then we should..."

"Wait for a bit more. There's something I want to check."

The goddess spoke in a loud voice to let the others hear. They complied, still too awed by her earlier display of strength. With that level of power, trampling the monsters should be easy for her. She had chosen to hide as well, but who had the guts to question her? Not to mention, none of them knew from where she had come from.

Except Alex. She had noticed earlier that the doll the spiky-haired boy carried on his shoulder was the splitting image of the friend he brought to the church some days ago, and upon whom the blessings didn't work either. The suspicions she was harboring were proven true when the doll disappeared the moment the girl made an entrance. What she didn't expect was the ridiculous force she had.

Anyway, she wasn't going to question her instructions. She had saved them once already, she owed her that much.

So they waited. A minute passed. Then another. And another, and another, and another… Kamijou had almost given up and was going to raise a complain, when he heard a noise. He shifted a bit so he could look at his partner, and she gave him an affirmative nod. Soon, the noise became clear enough to be recognized.

"-still no fucking idea what happened. One moment they were there, the other, bam, a huge cloud, and next moment they disappeared."

"You think they disconnected? They could panic, make a racket, raise the smokescreen and then just go away."

"That would be ideal. As long as they are separated from the guide chick, they're as good as eliminated. Goddammit, we had too many failures today. The guys in charge of the group from four hours ago succeeded, but the one from two hours ago was annihilated. They had espers. They completely trampled the giant bugs. Fucking monsters, thanks to them we had to go to the nest to get another batch. It was already difficult enough the first time around, and we had to repeat again. I hate people from Academy City."

His position didn't give him a view of them, but the voices belonged to a group of males, probably older than himself. And going by the contents of the discussion, their deduction had been accurate: they were indeed targeting participants. Touma smiled a little at the mention of his classmates. He could practically picture Fukiyose headbutting the giant scorpion into submission.

What to do with these people? He looked again at Othinus, but she was no longer there.

"Oh wow!"

"Where'd she come from?!"

Kamijou sighed. It was not like she was in any real danger. He thought about going out, asking her to capture them and try to see if they could get some more information, but the next piece of conversation froze him in his tracks.

"You think she's a player or a NPC?"

"Dumbass, it's obvious she's a NPC. If she were a player she'd have disconnected before. Besides, look at her clothes. Where'd she get a hold of that if she'd only been here for a week?"

"Heh heh, then she can't escape right? This is the finest one we'll have had yet, don't you guys think?"

"Yep. This is practically a godsend. Surround her. Here's the middle of the desert, there's nowhere she can run to. We also have two hours before the next group comes. Nobody will hear her screams."

"Umm… Hey guys, are you really sure about this? It's not good, I mean… forcing ourselves..."

"C'mon, man, don't be such a killjoy. You say the same every time. Nobody is gonna notice if a NPC or two goes missing. There's nothing wrong with having a little fun. And besides… _this is just a game, right?_ "

(Shit!)

As fast as possible, Touma shook off all of the sand and rose. He searched for the group, but by then it was too late.

Othinus was kneeling beside a corpse, examining something intently. Surrounding her were four similar cadavers. Each of them had a hole in the middle of their forehead. Death had claimed them so fast that they probably didn't realize what hit them. For Touma, though, it was an easy question to answer.

Othinus' spear was floating silently beside her, the tip dyed red, dripping crimson liquid on the sand.

"Othinus..." Touma sent her a warning glance, but she merely shrugged.

"Don't be such a worrywart, human. A mere trick like this doesn't qualify as magic."

"That's not the problem here! If you were going to make it float, then there was no need to go through the trouble of finding one that could withstand your force! Any other one would have done! Why would you go and break all of those? Huh? I-Is that it? Is what I heard true, that all girls like to go shopping and spend even when there's no need? I thought Index and you were exceptions, but it was just that the interest didn't match! Crap! My wallet's in danger! Don't you dare become a weapon otaku! With your height, you couldn't even lift the miniature reproductions! And I couldn't afford it either!"

"The control I have over my weapon is perfect. I could make it enter from your front and exit through you back without damaging a single vital."

"Don't start discussing torture methods out loud to cover up your embarrassment! It's scary!"

After they calmed down, Kamijou looked at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"But you know… These guys, they were trying… They wanted to..."

"Human. Remember the test I did the first day I came to this side?"

His cheeks became hot. "I remember."

"We are in a world where they can experience pleasure the same as in the real one, but where there isn't anyone to make them responsible for their offenses. It is obvious that a lot of people would think about it."

"Yeah, I get that, but still..."

"Anyway, look here."

She pointed to the corpse, and he crouched besides her, trying to ignore the smell.

"What's the matter?"

"The decomposition speed is strange."

"What do you mean, strange?"

"Usually, it takes time for a body to break down and become fluid. It can take years. But this one here is going over the process at an accelerated pace. It should disappear completely in about a day."

"Oh, I see. So, if you disconnect by normal means, you can come back in an hour, but if you die, you have to wait a whole day. Is this what you wanted to investigate?"

"Yes. I was curious, and this seemed like a good chance."

"Right..."

The girl peeked at him, and sighed lightly.

"Human, I know you regret death, but this was kill or be killed. You heard what they wanted to do to me. This world remains me of my own. The strong rule. There's nobody here who will blame you, whatever you do."

"I know."

His words said so, but his expression was sour.

They collected everyone and made sure no one was missing, and set march once again. Some time later, Alex announced with a pompous voice.

"We are almost there. You can probably see it from where we are. This is where the event from the Goddess will take place."

A couple minutes later, they saw.

Standing proudly at almost 150m of height, made of enormous blocks of stone, and with a typical form easily recognized by anyone, it gave off a majestic and imposing feeling.

The first of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and also the only one sturdy enough to resist the passage of time to the present day.

A Pyramid.

* * *

 **Next chapter, it will be the beginning of the Challenge. I know I said exactly the same last time, but this one was kind of a warm-up before the match, and the next chapter will be the actual event. Touma will become Indiana Jones and Othinus a GPS.**

 **See ya!**

* * *

 **OMAKE**

After the incident with the monster horde and its instigators, they collected everyone and began walking again. Then, Othinus spoke to Touma.

"You mentioned the battle against Thor before. How did it go? I know you won, because you made it to me, but how was it?"

"The battle against Thor, huh. It was..."

 _(Almighty Thor): Let me enjoy this, baby!_

 _(Kamijou Touma): Aaaaaaaaaaaah!_

 _(Random Passerby): I like trains._

 _(Almighty Thor): No, no, no, wait!_

 _*woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo*_

"...something like that. What?"


	11. Chapter 10 - Bad Day

**Hey there!**

 **I don't really have anything to say this time, so I'll go directly to answer comments.**

 **Guest5684395: I understand your concerns. I'll try to explain a bit why I made him react the way he did.**

 **First, though he can be serious outside of dangerous situations, please remember that he is playing a game. Besides homework that he still has not recieved, he has no obligation to do what he is doing. In other words, he is completely unbound, enjoying time with friends and just having fun. There's no reason for him being serious, because he is basically playing around.**

 **And about his reaction on killing people, I don't know if it was understandable or not, so I'll try to clarify. First thing is, he already knew that they could not die "for real". The game world works largely like a common MMORPG. For those of you not familiar with this genre, dying is an important part in these kind of game. I'll go ahead and suggest to watch Log Horizon if you want an idea of which kind of death mechanics these types of videogames follow. Also, a game in which when you die you can't play again wouldn't be much fun, right?**

 **Of course, dying is not something to be encouraged, because there wouldn't be risks. So, to avoid the case where everyone just rushes at stronger monsters because "nothings happens even if we die", the developers use penalties. Sometimes you lose experience points and items, sometimes you incur in some kind of debt, and several other variables. This particular game is in real time, and so the penalty is not being able to play again for 24h. A day is a lot of time, because most events finish in just a few hours, so dying basically means you're out.**

 **In short, he knew that nothing happened even if they died, but not what penalty they would recieve. That's the part Othinus confirmed.**

 **Please note that the moment the other guys suggested doing the deed by force and he understood that she was going to kill them, he did try to stop her. It's just that Othinus is so damn OP that in the two seconds it took to get up, they were already dead. And after that, even when he knew that nothing would happen, after joking around, he did show concern.**

 **That was longer than expected. Onto the next:**

 **Guest: Thanks for the typos as always. I appreciate that, but please refrain from insisting on revisions on past chapters. If I do not correct them upon a couple days is because I don't have the time. Thanks again.**

 **biofan09, Alfonse08 and Dragonskyt: I'm grateful for new readers showing support. I hope you enjoy the new chapter.**

 **And that was all.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 10 - Bad Day

Kamijou Touma was running away from a rolling boulder.

"Hey, Othinus, do you see any crossing path ahead? I'm starting to get tired of this oversized pebble, and running in a one-way road brings unpleasant memories of someone."

"There's not even a corner in at least a hundred meters. Be thankful that you're not in the dark."

"Right, because torches in the walls at perfectly even intervals make for a totally not creepy environment. How long has it been since we started running anyway? This damn corridor just doesn't end."

"Hey, human."

"Yes?"

"There's no corner, but there is something ahead of us."

"Which would be?"

"A slope. That thing behind you is going to accelerate, so I suggest you pick up speed if you don't want to see your height become less than mine."

"...Such misfortune."

* * *

Misaka Mikoto was not having a good day.

It had begun well enough. Tokiwadai had decided to halt their lessons for today as a special case, so that every student who intended to participate in the Challenge could do so without worrying about missing lectures.

That was good for her plans. On the other hand, it gave Kuroko the perfect excuse to hang out with her Onee-sama, which was an impediment.

Realizing that the fight with the idiot in Denmark didn't have as clean of a result as she had believed, she had decided to ambush him again and grill him over until, once and for all, he decided to fight her, properly this time. No holding back, no mental problems the cause of which she still didn't understand, and no international criminals that he had decided to play the hero for and protect against the whole world. It was ridiculous, really. Accelerator, GREMLIN, an international alliance, and after that a evilly-cackling mummy old man who could just shrug off being railgunned into space. It was like he was some sort of LN protagonist where the adversaries' power-levels became more insane as time went by.

And the event today gave her the perfect chance for that. If it was inside a game world, she didn't need to worry about collateral damage when they finally went at it. Still, she'd prefer not to have people who knew her as witness, and especially Kuroko, the reason being that if she found out that she was searching for a man, whatever the reason, it would result in a spike in the number of underwear thefts, shower groping, and similar events for a minimum of two weeks.

That's why she rose early and, after having breakfast, wasted no time connecting. She was in the very first batch of people to made way to the place where the event would take place in.

By the time Kuroko woke up, she'd be too far in-game for the underclassman to find and teleport herself to where she was.

Everything was going well. The first major obstacle to her revenge was cleared, and she even got to warm up for her future confrontation with a bunch of giant scorpions that had attacked her group.

And then they arrived to the massive pyramid, and things started to go wrong.

"I will now reveal the rules of the competition." announced the blond cleric that lead their group, and who had such ridiculous drills that she just had to be nobility of some sort. "All of you will enter the temple behind me. Once there, your objective will be to make it to the very central room. There will be traps along the way, and it is not forbidden to interfere with other participants. We are not allowed to give you further information. Good luck to everyone. The entrance is that way." she explained, pointing at a dark entrance at the base of the massive building.

Misaka chose that moment to disconnect.

She decided to express her dissatisfaction by hugging a giant Gekota doll and roll around in her bed.

That was it? No fights? No tournament arc? No promised showdown or vow to meet at the finals? How was she supposed to bait the idiot into fighting her without a proper setting?

She was so engrossed complaining to herself that she didn't notice that the movement woke up her roommate. Kuroko was an early riser but, not having classes today, she took the chance to sleep a little more.

When she opened her eyes, she saw her Onee-sama rolling in bed with a plushie, burying her head in it and grumbling childishly. She suffered from cuteness overload, spurted blood from her nose and went back to sleep, having reached the conclusion that she was in a dream.

It took some time for the electromaster to calm down.

(The situation is still manageable. That drill-headed nun said that it was allowed to interfere with other participants. If the interior is a labyrinth, then he won't be able to run away if I corner him. Phew, calming down, it wasn't that bad.)

Having resolved herself, she connected again and waited for the next group. When she finally saw people approach, she spied them for a distance, searching for the distinct spikes of black hair, but he wasn't there.

She waited some more, but he wasn't in the next batch either. She watched as they entered the massive tomb, and waited again.

After the first two times she got the timing down, and disconnected to go to the toilet, eat a snack and just kill time, and kept going back to the front of the desert periodically until, at last, people that she recognized appeared.

Just, they weren't exactly who she was waiting for.

(Geh! Just my luck! It had to be them!)

A blue-haired boy with closed eyes and a blond with sunglasses, the same people that had been accompanying the idiot the last day of August. If she recalled correctly, the later had issues with a real-life younger stepsister, while the former used two-dimensional logic on three-dimensional girls.

Still, she had no option. They were among the extremely reduced circle of male friends of that guy that she had knowledge of, so they were probably of the same school.

She gathered her resolve to go and ask, but thought better.

(It's not just those two… It's full of high-schoolers too! I can't possibly approach them with a smile and ask "Sorry, but do you know where Kamijou-kun is? Teehee!" I'm not that kind of character!)

And so she settled for the next best option, that is, to follow them, and ask when they separated from the rest of the group.

The students started to enter the massive construction, except for precisely her two targets, who were discussing something passionately, yelling at each other and pointing at the black-haired novice who had guided them, who in turn was looking at them with a I-have-no-idea-what-are-you-talking-about-but-for-the-moment-please-calm-down smile.

They stopped when one of the girls came back from inside the building left the structure and went to them, smashed their heads and draggged them down. The priestess bowed to her, but she made a gesture with her hand to indicate that everything was okay.

Going by her fed-up expression, it wasn't the first time that a similar incident happened.

Misaka made her way to the entrance, taking care not to be seen, and entered the building for the first time. The first room was big enough that she could hide in the shadows projected by a handful of torches hanging from the walls. There were several passages, all of them evenly illuminated.

The group of students discussed for a bit, and decided to make groups and try all of the possible routes at once. She followed the one where her two objectives were at a prudent distance.

Some time later, they came upon a bifurcation, and the four boys their group consisted of separated in two pairs once more.

Finally! Chance! Misaka started her approach, but…

(Huh?)

Something was amiss. Finding someone in a maze was impossible, so what was the point in asking when she was already in the labyrinth herself?

(GAAAAAH! I GOT CARRIED AWAY!)

* * *

And that was the reason why she was currently wandering the perpetually monotone corridors, turning corners at whim without any way of orienting herself, crushing ridiculous traps every now and then.

She didn't have coins she could use to launch her trademark railgun, but thankfully she had collected iron sand from the soil of the forest zone in her clothes. The extra weight made it a bit difficult to move, but it wasn't something that she couldn't endure. She was grateful to have made that choice when that sand had been used in short sequence to skewer rocks, create bridges over pitfalls, and exterminate bugs. As potent as an electric bolt was, its uses were limited outside of frying things.

Forced to continue advancing in such a boring environment, and having lost the perfect chance for the revenge duel, Misaka's explosion meter had been full since a while back. That's why it wasn't a surprise that when an arrow came flying her way from a lateral passageway, and she heard a snicker, it went past its limits and it finally burst.

A quickly generated magnetic field made the arrow fall at her feet, powerless.

"THAT'S IT!" She growled towards the now frantically retreating silhouette. "I NEED A STRESS RELIEVER, AND YOU JUST VOLUNTEERED! COME HERE, YOU COWARD!"

* * *

Kamijou Touma was running away from a cloud of bats.

"What is with these things anyways? Isn't it strange that they focus on a single person? Go away! You're free! I only pushed the lever that kept you locked, so why are you trying to attack instead of thanking me?"

"It's the scent, human. Some kind of oil was placed in the lever, and they are following it's smell."

"Can't I clean it, then?"

"Even if you do, the essence will remain, so it would be of no use."

"Then do you have any idea of what could I do, oh great god?"

"Just keep running. They'll tire eventually."

"That also goes for me!"

* * *

Accelerator was not having a good day.

As he casually crushed the ceiling that was falling over him, he recalled the conversation that made him think it was a good idea to come to this fucking event to try and work out some frustration.

" _We are sorry, customer-sama. All the personalized covers for bracelets ran out the moment we opened today. It is probably the same case in all of the city."_

" _Isn't it fine? Asks Misaka as Misaka fails to hide her smile. Misaka thinks that pink suits you! Exclaims Misaka as Misaka shamelessly proclaims to the world the reason of your embarrassment."_

" _Stop, Last Order. It isn't nice to laugh at other people's… Kuh. Sorry, this is too much. The strongest Level 5 wearing girlie pink… Kukuku..."_

" _Ehm… Customer-sama, if you wish, we can make a reservation. The new stock won't arrive until next month, but you'll be guaranteed to obtain one..."_

The next strike made the entire Pyramid tremble.

* * *

Kamijou Touma was running away from a den of snakes.

"Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?"

"Human. Are you afraid of serpents? What a shame. Had I known earlier, I would've created more worlds with that theme in mind."

"Hmm? No, not particularly."

"Then why did you say that?"

"I don't know. It just felt right."

* * *

Kai Herber was not having a good day.

Kai was what was commonly known as a professional gamer, someone who subsided in life by playing computer games. Sometimes, he spent hours to get a rare item to sell it, and sometimes he sold the account itself. He also participated in competitions and tournaments from time to time.

Obviously, he was incredibly excited upon learning about the release of a virtual reality game. Not only because of his love for gaming that pushed him to take that profession, but also because of the incredible business possibilities that it would offer for people like him.

There was a high probability that an official transaction system from the developers came out, which would let people exchange money for items, but even if there wasn't, there were multiple ways to gain money from such a huge project.

Herber contacted other people in his line of work, friends made over the years, and they agreed to cooperate to take the maximum advantage of this chance. When the game launched, they quickly investigated and shared all the information they found. The penalties upon dying, how did the Guild work, freedom of actions, best hunting grounds…

They found out that most of the mechanics of traditional MMMORPG games could be applied, though there were some things that differed. The first few times they went hunting, they brought only ears, wrists and weapons, wondering which one would be the subjugation proof, and the Guild employee had treated them as idiots. Besides that, hunting itself was hard, because they were not used to fighting. To shoot an arrow, he had to nock it, draw the bow, aim, and release, instead of just clicking a button. They also had to carry their weapons and supplies, which tired them fast. All of that made grinding a pipe dream.

His group had also explored the limits of the territory where each of them ended up. In the case of his region, they discovered the desert and the lake at either side of the forest before anyone else.

It was then that the announcement of the event came. A wish might seem a vague word, but as gamers, they knew what it probably entailed: either a unique weapon, or some kind of special privileges were probable candidates for a prize. Whatever it was, it was sure to brought them closer to their goal: to assume control over the territory.

It was only logical to wish for such a thing. If they became the lords, they could control the market and the military force, and as such it would also make it much easier to make better real-world business when the time came.

So, they planned. They used the week of leeway time to search for monsters nest, and set up a communication network, which consisted of six people taking turns to connect and disconnect. Until they found some method to exchange intelligence in real time in-game, this system allowed them to relay information every ten minutes, since the waiting time between connections was an hour at a minimum.

Because they type of event was not known, their aim was to reduce the competition before they made it to the site, to have better chances themselves. To do so they chose to use MPK tactics. That was Phase 1, decided during the week. And, the moment the actual test was revealed, Phase 2 was born.

They were conscious that not all participants would be done in merely by meeting monsters. There might be lucky people, martial arts experts and, most importantly, espers. Those would probably reach the site and proceed to the test. So, once there, they aimed at reducing those numbers even more.

Each time some of their associates died, they reported the path they had taken, as well as the traps they had encountered. In this way, an accurate map was created online over time which, that thanks to the ten-minute communication, was relayed to the next challengers, who in turn made it farther than their predecessors.

And upon reaching a certain level of completion, a special squad was deployed. They were the actual "executors".

They were all bow or crossbow users. Kai used a bow, so he was among the chosen ones. What they did was memorize a portion of the map each, get to the zone in the maze, and make camp. Every time someone approached, they attacked them from afar. If they died, that was that, a rival less. If they didn't, they would let the other party follow them and make them fall in trap after trap, that they had knowledge of beforehand and therefore knew how to avoid, until they also perished and abandoned the test.

Looking at it like this, it was good that the penalty for dying was a 24h ban from playing. In one hand, their explorers couldn't connect again, but it also meant that so long as they defeated an adversary, they didn't have to worry about them anymore. Their aim was not to get the prize for themselves. As long as one of their group won, it was their victory. To cooperate and have faith in their party was essential to reach the top in games.

So long, he had been doing good. The people that approached his zone were all dealt with. He had even managed to take out an esper.

So why was he having a bad day?

The answer was simple.

Kai Herber was running away from a monster.

A monster in the form of a lovely young girl with tea-colored hair and regrettably lacking in assets for her age, but a monster nonetheless.

When he let lose the arrow, he had felt a bit of regret for targeting her, but the projectile suddenly lost all strength and dropped to the ground. Just like that. The only viable explanation was that she was an esper, but at last the other one had created fire from his hands to incinerate the projectile in mid-air, making it rather easier to understand. Rapidly shifting strategies, he had retreated, intending to lure her to the ambushes waiting further in. He absolutely could not fight an esper head-on.

She had followed, and he felt relief when she walked straight onto the platform that would release a giant rock on top of the person who stood on it. However, that relief became awe, and then despair in rapid succession, the reason being some kind of chainsaw-like whips which pulverized the boulder, and shot towards him immediately after. He barely managed to avoid them and run to the next location.

The next ten minutes were among the most stressful of his life. No matter what kind of trap, all were rendered useless by the buzzing whips. And when he was convinced that no matter what he did, he could not overcome the monster, he discovered much to his horror that he could not even retreat, because the girl was always on his tracks. Which meant, that whatever her power was, it also had tracking capabilities.

"There you are!"

At the end, the inevitable happened and she caught up. Kai couldn't run, so he decided to take an all-or-nothing gamble, and stopped at a certain location.

"Hey, I don't know how could you attack a girl as cute as me," he rolled his eyes "but I'm in a reaaally bad mood at the moment, and you running around everywhere isn't helping one bit. Do guys think that I like to chase after them or something? You're the same as that idiot. In the first place, why did he not come? Not to mention..."

Kai gave himself a moment to pity the guy she was talking about while she cracked her knuckles and sparks literally jumped from her forehead, but took the chance while she was distracted to reach for a lever with his foot.

The moment he pressed, a great part of the floor crumbled, revealing a ten meter pitfall, with smooth walls and no support. The girl fell mid-grumbling with a rather cute scream, but he had no energy left to spare considering such things.

He let himself fall to the floor and exhaled, relieved.

"It's nothing personal." he added a bit later, as an afterthought. Shaking his head, he rose again to leave, when he heard something.

"I see, I see. So it's nothing personal, huh. Well, at the very least you tried to fight, not like the other coward. I'll give you that. But you know what? Now I'm pissed."

No. It was impossible. As he slowly turned around, his mouth fell agape, not really understanding the logic behind what he was seeing.

The cursed girl was standing on top of a blackish platform. Said platform was suspended by means of four tendrils that shot in different directions, embedded into the walls.

That trap was his final resort. Like the rest, it took time for them to come back in place, so he refrained from using it whenever possible. Unlike the others, where he had to avoid them and hope for the adversary to activate them, this one was not meant for one person, but rather for groups. The leading person would activate the switch, causing the rest of his companions to fall. Therefore, it was the only one that he could safely activate.

Also, it's range was enormous, covering almost the entirety of the corridor. There was no escaping it. He had only used it once before, with the other esper, when he proved too strong to succumb to the normal ones. Shooting fire didn't help him when he was accelerating towards the ground from ten meters high.

And yet, this girl was just standing there, in the middle of it, like it was nothing, looking at him with a smile that promised murder.

"Well, since you went until this far, I'll give you a special service."

At that moment, Kai was assaulted by a certain feeling.

He knew what it meant. It was a feeling that was by no means foreign to him.

A very small part of the platform disengaged from the rest, and floated silently until it was situated in front of her.

"You..."

He had experienced it several times in the past. When he encountered a boss where there shouldn't be one, when a dungeon was way nastier than their party expected, or when his teammates were decimated and he was left alone to face the opposite team.

She extended her arm, and the fragment of what he now recognized as some sort of sand morphed into a disc.

Yes, to put it in simple terms…

"Have you ever heard the term Railgun?"

He was screwed.

* * *

Kamijou Touma was running away from- not.

"So? What did you discover?"

He was currently taking a rest. He had finally managed to figure out that as long as he didn't move, no more traps would be triggered.

"Rather than discover, this is weird." Othinus talked calmly from his shoulder. "I've been counting your steps, and calculating your position. Right now, we should be a few hundred meters out past of the northern wall. I also confirmed the altitude, so there's no possibility of we being in a basement that extends beyond what the building in the surface shows."

"So you're a human GPS now?"

"What's with that derogatory-sounding acronym?"

"Nevermind. Then, is this something like spacial displacement? Shouldn't my right hand have canceled that?"

"No, if the magic is not in the space, but in the building itself. Try touching the wall."

Touma did as asked and, with the sound of breaking glass, the wall crumbled.

"Oh, so it really fell… This is like those ships all over again. ...Wait a second. If there was magic in the walls, shouldn't you have detected it since the beginning?"

"I did, but I couldn't be sure about it's function. My theory is that the whole Pyramid is enchanted to grant the attribute of an unsolvable labyrinth, but it could also be a surveillance system of sorts for whoever is organizing this."

"But with all that I have run, we should have left the limits of the building once before. At the very least, the corridor where the boulder chased me was interminable, on top of being straight. Simply running through it I probably left the premises."

"..."

"...Please don't go silent now. That's just confessing that you really noticed before, and only said it now because you're getting bored."

"...But it was fun?"

"LIKE HELL IT WAS!"

"Anyway, human. I'll guide you to the center, so follow my instructions."

"Fine, fine."

Another half an hour later and approximately five hundred walls collapsed, Kamijou and Othinus arrived before another identical wall. The boy was about to raise his right hand, but the goddess stopped him.

"Wait, human. This should be the last one. After this, we'll have arrived. And by the looks of it, you'll be the first one, too. Get ready."

"Get ready for what? Isn't it easy? We enter, receive whatever the prize is, and leave."

"No, but… Nevermind."

Kamijou shrugged at the exasperated sigh, and raised his hand again. This time however, it wasn't only the wall that collapsed.

"Whoooooa?!"

The floor under his feet disappeared too, and he found himself faceplanting on the ground.

"Agggghhh… I knew it. Since we started going to the center, we avoided all the traps because we weren't actually traveling through the passages, so of course something like this had to happen at the very, very end!"

Picking himself, he examined the situation. The hole was too deep to just jump, and the smooth walls made it impossible to climb either.

"So, Othinus. Do you think you could become a giantess for a little moment and lift me?"

"Ha? What do you think are you asking to a Goddess?"

"Eh? But didn't you say that manipulating your body was easy? You can become smaller, but not bigger?"

"There's something wrong with your head if you think asking any girl something like that would yield result. Becoming bigger is among the top in lists of things maidens don't want to do."

"I see" replied Kamijou in all seriousness, eyeing the -though by no means small- modest (and, due to circumstances, miniature) chest of the Goddess.

"You just thought something incredibly rude, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you when you're having fun but, do you need help?"

A new voice from above cut in the conversation.

Kamijou ceased all movements. He recognized that voice and, more importantly, it's owner.

Various pieces of data on his head fell in place and, like a jigsaw, formed a complete image.

The story where a deity cried so much that a lake was formed.

The Pyramid where he was right now, and the internal structure of the Church.

The symbol of the faith embroidered on the tunics of the local clergy, a drop – no, a tear.

And finally, the epithet "Self-Sacrifice".

Didn't he know someone whom everything could be applied to? Who had a tear tattooed on her face, who cried for the silliest things, who wore bandages like the ones found on mummies in Pyramids, and who had left the world giving what remained of her strength to save another one?

It should be impossible. But, for one who bore the title of Goddess, such minor issues as something being impossible didn't pose any problem.

Slowly, as if not daring to believe it, Touma raised his head to the top of the hole.

There, smiling at him, stood Magic God Nephthys.

* * *

 **The clues were there. How many of you saw it coming? Next chapter will be the Goddesses confrontation.**

 **See ya!**

* * *

 **OMAKE**

Touma, wearing a Fedora hat and a whip at his waist, runs away.

Suddenly, Kanzaki Kaori appears!

She passes Shichiten Shichitou from hand to hand, taunting him.

With a tired sigh, Touma reaches for his gun and fires.

Kanzaki uses her superhuman reflexes as a Saint to evade the moment the bullet is fired.

"..."

"..."

"Well shi-"

"Nanasen!"


	12. Chapter 11 - G(irls)ods Talk

**Hey there!**

 **I had time this days to read and catch up on some fictions, and I noticed something. In chapter 74 of his fic, a reviewer asked Darkbetrayer what his opinion was on a series of fanfics, among which was mine, and he was nice enough to praise it. I'm honored, the least I can do is return the favor. If someone here has some free time to read and hasn't done it yet, go check A Certain Infinite Possibility. It has exciting battles, great plot, great "plot", angels, demons, harem comedy, and more. It's pretty cool, so give it a chance, even if the author doesn't sound very... trustworthy. I mean, just think about it. Sometimes I wonder if there's a conspiracy in the Raildex fandom that says all popular fics must have an author with some kind a shady name. We have the aforementioned Darkbetrayer, Mr. ?, ADdude...**

 **Answers to comments:**

 **Dragon Rider 66: I know right? I had just finished writing and realised the Omake was missing, and since Indiana Jones was the theme of the chapter, I just went with the most obvious reference.**

 **...And that's all already. I'll just say that I'm doing a great job at explaining everything and give myself a medal. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 11 - G(irls)ods Talk

After the rescue operation was successfully carried out (not that it could fail, taking into account just who was doing the saving), Kamijou and his tiny companion were escorted to the central area where they arrived, and they found themselves... in his room.

"How is it? I'm not exactly used to hosting humans, so I recreated the only environment where I had been that I knew was suitable for them to live."

"I honestly don't know what to say, but I already learned to ignore common sense when dealing with you lot, so it's fine. Rather, I'm amazed you could recreate so much from memory." He sat in front of the table in the middle of the room. Normally, he would've been more polite when in somebody else's home, but the sense of familiarity he had made it difficult for him to feel nervous. "You even made a TV."

"Ah, that? Yeah, it's rather boring in here, so from time to time I turn it on and watch."

"Ho? How can you receive signal in here? Wait."

The brown woman was looking at him in mild confusion, so Kamijou stopped himself. People from the Magic side were supposed to be no good with technology, so Last Boss Nephthys should be beyond hopeless. Her limits were probably reproducing what she had seen with magic. In which case...

"Don't tell me" asked Touma as his face morphed to the most absolute horror, "that all you've been watching were the late-night dramas from that time?"

"Bwaaaaaaahg! But they're so touching! Just thinking about them bring tears to my face!"

"And that's not all, human."

While original owner frantically searched the drawer for a tissue, Othinus the Magic God was actively sitting still on top of the table. Were she a Tibetan monk, she would have given the impression of meditating, and were she a Buddhist, she may have reached enlightenment, but as she had yet to enlarge to her true size, she merely looked like an abandoned toy a child got tired of playing with.

"There's an underground channel that starts here and goes back in the direction we came. Odds are high it goes all the way to the lake."

"What!? I mean, I thought it was strange that there was something like that in the middle of a desert, but are you telling me that it is being maintained by cheap soap operas and an idol promotion movie?! I-I feel bad now for not believing in famous whenever they said they adopted an orphan and gave a fortune to an ONG! I'm sorry, idols! I actually thought you were just trying to improve your image, but you were eliminating drought behind our backs! Good job!"

"Fweeeeeeeeeeh!"

* * *

After the Kamijou residence (false) finally calmed down, two gods and a boy sat around the table.

"So, Nephthys. Why are you here? No, rather, how can you be here? I thought you were done in by World Rejecter. Ah, no, it isn't like I'm not glad to see you or anything, it's just that I thought you had died for good, and well..."

"Human. The Magic Gods were attacked by World Rejecter and harvested, but they weren't killed in the strictest sense of the word. Remember what I told you about Niang-Niang? "I doubt we will ever see them again, as long as we remain in the current world.""

"Oh..." Touma's face changed as he realized what she was hinting at. "Then this counts as a different world?"

"Exactly. A Magic God is something that is present in all realities in existence. World Rejecter merely sent us to such a world where it was impossible for us to interact with the "main" reality, essentially sealing us, but our existences are too big to be destroyed by that. So, when this world where we are right now was created, we manifested naturally."

Brown Nephthys took over the role of lecturer, earning a glare from Othinus, and a nod from Touma as he digested the information.

"I see. But if a mere game can count as a new world, why didn't you appear in some other console first? It's not like this is the first video-game to ever be created."

"Use your head, human. Can you move your limbs in those other worlds? Can you breathe? Can you feel pleasure, or pain? Can you use magic? Can you die?"

"You do know that in some of your worlds, I couldn't do any of that, right?"

"T-That doesn't count."

Teenager Kamijou Touma gave a sigh worthy of the most world-weary elderly.

"Really, Othinus. It hasn't even been an hour since you two met and you're already dismissing worlds as if they were bad dice throws. Your bad habits are returning. What did I tell you about hanging out with bad companies?

"Buuuaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Kamijou-chan is mean! I'm sorry for being a bad company!"

"Ahh. See, you made her cry."

"Wha! How is that supposed to be my fault! I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. The girl over there slips into her unreasonable persona from time to time, you are not at fault. There, there."

Kamioju Touma once again brought the tissue he had found before to the nose of the mummy goddess, and ran his other hand through her head in an attempt to calm her down. Othinus' glare intensified by a factor of eleven.

"Oh, right!"

As if her earlier depression was a lie, the Egyptian deity raised her voice and turned to look at him with radiant eyes.

"I have yet to give you your prize!"

"Prize?" echoed the only male with confusion.

"Yeah. You have already figured out that the one whom is worshiped here is me, right? And you were legitimately the first one to reach the central room, which makes you the winner."

"What about Othinus?"

"She doesn't count, obviously. The event was intended for humans. So, Kamijou Touma. What do you wish for?"

He hesitated, and she smiled at him.

"Don't worry. I won't ask you to become our scorer again. This is a free wish, with no strings attached. You don't need to hold back."

"Then..." he gulped, "can you create Gungnir?"

Both women were stunned for a few moments. Othinus' gaze softened.

She recalled earlier that day, when she had decided to participate in the Challenge and told him. She intended to check if there really was another god in the zone. However, instead of the reluctance and cries of misfortune that she was sure she would receive (he hated getting involved voluntarily in things that could land him in troublesome situations easily, and this was without a doubt one of them) she had obtained a quick agreement. It was clear her that there had to be some deeper reason for that. As it turned out, he had the sights set on the prize all along, for her.

"That's impossible." was the obvious response. "Even as gods, there are some things that we cannot do. Gungnir is one of the concepts that make up Magic God Othinus, and it lies at the very core of her divinity. Asking me to create it would be equivalent to create another Othinus entirely. In the same way that a Magic God can only be opposed by another Magic God, messing with the symbols of power of another one of us is something that we cannot do. And even more so in her case. In Norse Mythology, the weapons are the power of the god itself. The only ones who can create it would be Othinus herself and whatever individuals were involved in its forging in the legend."

"Oh." He didn't sound too disappointed. "Well, I already expected something like this. It was worth a shot."

"You can wish for something else if you want. Is there anything else you desire?"

"No, not really. I just wanted to ask for that."

"Are you sure? I can not create Gungnir specifically, but I could make a weapon that will guarantee your victory, for example."

"It's fine, really. I have no use for something like that. Weapons will only hinder me."

When he said that, he shot a discreet glance at Othinus, who puffed her chest proudly. The brown Goddess intercepted that look and probed:

"Were you the one who told him that?"

"Of course. I'm the one who understands him the most after all."

"Hm. If weapons are not good, how about a shield? Or maybe some armor? You do have a tendency to get hurt."

"Hahaha, I'll refrain from that. I'm not really that fond of cheats. I'm the kind of person who prefers to check guides on how to beat the boss instead of obtaining the balance-breaking sword with some developer's code."

"Are you saying that your wish is to be able to consult with me whenever you have a problem?"

"Well, I share my room with a grimoire library and a god practically lives in my shoulder, so..."

"I see. If there's nothing you wish for, we'll leave it at me owing you a favor then. Maybe you'll need it in the future."

"Yeah, that'll work. Thanks."

"That's fine, then." She rose up. "I suppose you should go now."

"Huh? So fast?"

"What is there to talk about? You came here as the winner, and obtained the prize. There's nothing left for you to do now, right?"

"That logic is correct, but for some reason I can't agree with it completely!"

"You should really do as she says, human. If you don't want to attract attention, that is."

"?"

"The moment we entered the room, I transported everyone inside every pyramid to the front of the cities where they came from. There can only be one winner, so there was no reason for their presence the moment the victor was determined."

"Right now, they must be confused and wondering what happened. But as soon as they pull themselves together, it will be easy to understand that the teleportation means the event is over. As such, any anomaly, that is, whoever wasn't send like the others, must be special – in other words, the winner."

"N-no way… You can't do the same with me, right, my hand will interfere… Not only will I have to walk through the desert again, alone and without guide, but when I arrive I will be targeted… Such misfortune." He let himself fall on his back from his sitting position.

"Targeted? Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? Most will assume that I gained some kind of awesome item from this. To try and kill the winner of an event and loot his items is a basic strategy. And even more in here. We tested what happens when someone dies, right? The corpse remains, and so do whatever you're carrying. If you die, you lose everything."

"I'm surprised, human. To think that you had some knowledge of war tactics."

Othinus' voice held a hint of approval, but the teenager was too busy wallowing in self-pity to notice.

"In that case, you don't have to worry. I have a method to transport you safely in two minutes to the town you parted from."

"Really!"

As if he had received some kind of stimulant, Touma jumped from his position on the floor to stand up and grabbed the Goddess' hands from across the table.

"That's amazing! Thank you very much! What is it? A worm hole? Some kind of portal?"

"No, no, nothing of the sort. It's a much more primitive method. I would normally never resort to something so crude, but your power leaves me no choice."

"Huh… Othinus, you coming?"

"Later, human. I have something to discuss with her."

"Ok. Ah, that's right. Before I go, there's something I have to tell you."

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry!" he shouted, bowing in a ninety degrees angle. Nephthys looked at him with confusion.

"That time, I went and said something cool like aiming for a perfect ending where everyone could smile and where no-one had to be sacrificed, but I… I couldn't save you… I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

She smiled. The hair was covering his eyes so he couldn't see it, but the goddess started to walk around the table to position herself right in front of him.

"Didn't the grimoire library tell you? I was already dead. My body was simply moving by something like residual body heat. You did nothing wrong."

"Still, I..."

"Shh. I have no regrets. I was even able to depart in a suitable manner for a god, something I couldn't do before. You helped me much more than you think."

Arriving in front of him, she cupped his face with her hands and slowly raised his head.

"I'm glad you thought that way."

Along with that whisper, she pressed her lips in his forehead, just an instant.

"I hope you come visit from time to time."

"Eh?"

Still dazed from the rapid development, Kamijou couldn't keep up with the sudden change in tone. He noticed, however, that for some strange reason the smiling beauty seemed to become taller by the second.

"Eh?!"

No, on second thought, it was him who was descending. The tatami were he was standing was slowly sinking in the ground. Raising his head, he saw a little square of sky right on top of him, at the end of a dark ascendent tunnel, similar to the gap where an elevator passed.

"I calculated the landing point to be in the middle of the woods, so you don't have to worry about anyone seeing you land."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHH?! W-Wait! You must be joking! I'll die! I'll seriously die! B-Besides, it took who-knows-how-long to get here! Just how far do you intend to make me fly?!"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about anything. The patch of land where you'll fall is enchanted. You won't be injured no matter how much of an impact you receive. Just make sure not to fall with your right hand first, okay?"

"Nonono that's impossible to know, right?! I-I'm no good with free-falling! I've had enough experiences with Tsuchimikado and Kanzaki to know tha- UWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! SUCH MISFORTUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuneeeeeee!"

As if to cut off his ramblings, the section that had been sinking shot upwards with extreme speed. Both women could faintly hear the echo of the scream of the boy who became a star.

Nephthys sat again. A strange tension took hold of the small room.

Their earlier interaction might make it easy to forget, but the two individuals who remained were not normal humans. They were Magic Gods, beings who had reached the pinnacle of the magic world, who wielded such tremendous power that for them, plucking stars from the sky was as easy as flicking one's fingers. They were terrifying individuals that were not in the least concerned about human life.

And, one of them had been used by the other. At least one held animosity toward her counterpart.

Without the restraint that was Kamijou Touma keeping them in check, there was nothing stopping them from attacking each other. In the first place, their characters would not allow them to interact in such a manner. They were oddities who could end planets with but a thought, whose sense of morals was so removed from humans that acting according to their customs should be impossible. No, perhaps the oddity was the high school boy who could make such a side of theirs emerge.

How horrifying would a clash between such individuals be? How many worlds and galaxies would fall in their attempts to gain dominance over the other? How would reality tremble under their strikes, that contained power not found in any possible existing mystery of man?

The two goddesses glared at each other.

And so…

"I heard from one of your worshipers. A Goddess and her chosen one, huh. Are you trying to make him a paladin or something similar? How horribly cliché."

"I don't think the one who fell for the line "I will fight the world for you" has any right to speak."

"At least he meant it and went through with it."

"Though I may not be the most adequate to speak about normal human customs, I don't believe most girls give a chance to went through with something like that."

"What is it with this Challenge anyways? Enchanting the building with magic? Even if a normal magician came and noticed it, it would be impossible for them to break it, and more so in less than a day. This whole thing was a set-up, it was rigged to give him advantage. Rather, it would be impossible for anyone but for him to win. And you organized it less than a day after knowing he came? Were you that desperate to see him?"

"Again, I don't think the one who jumped on him the moment she regained her size has any right to talk."

The war began.

* * *

It took a while for the two to calm down, and face each other again.

"So? How are you here?"

"We already went over that, didn't we?"

"Oh, c'mon. If we really were beings who could manifest naturally in other dimensions, World Rejecter wouldn't be that scary. Just as there is only one world and one timeline, each Magic God is a single being. Even you, whose divinity allows you to be in more than one place at the same time, cannot claim that there exists two Nephthys. I understand that there's no real reason to explain to that human the technical details. It would be a bother and he wouldn't understand anyway. But I do. So, for the time being, let's exchange information. I'll answer your questions if you answer mine."

"Fine."

Surprisingly, she agreed quickly. Had Othinus not known anything that she might have an interest towards, she would have declined, so that meant that she also lacked information.

"You begin. How can you be here?"

"What do you know about the mechanics behind World Rejecter?"

The first question was answered by another question. The one-eyed god opened her mouth to answer, but thought better and waited for the explanation that was to come.

"You may consider it the strongest lance to go with the strongest shield that is Imagine Breaker, but that's not true. A lance is used to wound and kill. World Rejecter is more similar to a cage or a prison.

What it does is seal. The moment we are sent to a new world, we cannot access anymore any of the other realities or existence planes that make up what we know as "world". The place where we were was a point outside the reality we know of, outside of the timeline the world progresses in.

Of course, that isn't enough to erase the presence of Magic Gods, we are too powerful for that. But, even so, we were unable to escape. That was due to the shackles that were imposed unto us the moment that right hand attacked.

That chain that was capable of restraining us – was happiness."

She paused for a second to gather her thoughts, and proceeded.

"We were happy right where we were. Had we actually tried, both me and all of the others of our kind there could have escaped whenever we wanted, but we didn't feel the need to. Why go back to the former world when we were content there? The reason World Rejecter is so effective is because instead of restraining our power or our magic, it uses emotion to seal our will to leave. It's something that you can't fight even if you know about it."

"How were you able to escape, then?"

"It's easy. I couldn't use magic to fight emotion, so I used the only thing that could: another emotion."

"I see." interrupted the blonde. "It was this world, wasn't it? You used it as a source of interest to try and combat the happiness."

"That's right. The moment it was created and I felt the ripples in reality, I felt a bit of curiosity. I really wasn't that much, just on the level of "I wonder what that was?", but it was enough. It woke me up from my perpetual joyfulness. I clung to it, fueled it with all my might, and used it to break free. After that, I arrived here."

"So it really was as I thought. This is another phase, right?"

This new world was created with magic, and humans lived in it. It was the obvious assumption to make, but the brown woman shook her head.

"No, you're wrong. A phase is still recognized as a part of the world's system. It is similar to overwriting something, like using new colors to paint over an already colored canvas. World Rejecter can crush those too. Had this been a phase, I wouldn't have felt anything, because it would've been just another variant of the "old world". That's why I said that right hand works like a cage. It seals all of the world, preventing you from feeling any interest in it."

"Then, what is it? Where are we right now?"

"Isn't it obvious? A new phase wouldn't work. Then, there is only one possibility.

This is a new dimension."

Othinus' eye widened a bit in realization. If creating a phase was akin to overpainting a canvas, then creating a dimension was similar to painting it with ultraviolet, infrared, or other such colors outside the human vision specter. It wouldn't change the world per se, but it would still have a different kind of impact.

"You mean like the artificial heaven that the Science side developed?"

"Who knows? You tell me. How did you arrive here? You're power right now is ridiculously low, so it doesn't seem like you would've been able to escape from the new world had you been done in by World Rejecter."

"You're right, I wasn't attacked. I accessed here not because of my power, but by use of some kind of transition device. You have noticed, right? All of those people arriving here?" The listener nodded. "I used the same method as them. Upon arriving, Imagine Breaker broke something inside me and I've been recovered ever since."

"How much power do you have now?"

"I started at 1%. I estimate that in a couple of weeks I'll reach 1.3%."

"Wow, that's fast."

"I know, right? Anyway, what I can say is that this dimension was created in conjunction by both the Science and Magic sides. They probably used the artificial heaven from before as a model. Though, I have yet to determine the medium it uses. The other heaven used the power that leaked by science side power users as channel, but I don't know what they used for this one."

"So, to summarize, you can travel at will between this dimension and the original world without using your powers, and so can everybody else who had that transition device, and this was something created not by another Magic God, but by humans from both Magic and Science sides."

"That is correct. My turn. What happened with the other Magic Gods?"

"They also escaped, of course. Well, the High Priest and Zombie were killed before World Rejecter got to them and are gone for good, but the rest should be around here."

"Then why are all of you still stranded in this dimension? You made clear that you had enough power to travel between phases and worlds. And even if you didn't you could join hands."

"That's also obvious. We can't risk it."

"Ha?"

Othinus face didn't display confusion, but stupefaction. Was there something that several Magic Gods were afraid of?

Nephthys huffed in annoyance.

"We just escaped from that damned new world and took refuge here. Were we to go back, there is a chance that we'll be affected by that right hand again. Maybe we'll find it boring and unsatisfying and we'll go back to the prison of our own volition. The only reason we were freed was luck. We won't take any chances."

"Then, if you're planning to stay here, why are you staying in the same place? I couldn't feel your influence until I entered your temple."

"For the same reason. Our presence itself might destabilize the dimension, so the first thing we did upon arriving was create sanctuaries to limit our power. We went through Zombie Girl's spell once, so we applied it to a structure instead."

Zombie's spell worked by dividing one's divinity infinitely, like opposing mirrors, in order to make a Magic God weak enough for reality to contain its existence. In practice, it reduced the power of gods enough to be contained by the world.

"That's not completely right. You feel different from how the High Priest was back then."

"Well, we tweaked it a bit so that we still retain our full abilities in here, so it's not like any mortal could enter and just kill us. In fact, when we arrived, the world's fabric shifted for a while but it didn't rip, so I don't really think that our presence is that much of a threat for this dimension, but better to be safe than sorry."

"I see..."

"It will be a while until your powers are back, but if you'll be coming and going, you should create a temple somewhere too. Also, be careful when using high-level magic. You don't have to worry too much, but creating new phases and similar spells that affect the world as a whole might create the effect that we're trying to avoid."

"Alright. I'll remember it. One last question."

This time, the blonde looked at her interlocutor in the eye.

"What is it that you plan to do with him?"

She expected her to play dumb, or maybe a half-truth if she was lucky, but to her surprise she laughed.

"You're looking too much into it."

"What?"

"The other gods don't have that much interest in him. Sure, he still has Imagine Breaker, but he declined the offer to become our sheath, and it's not like we can force him."

"You're saying you're interest is personal, then?"

"Yes. You should be the one who understands it the most."

Seeing that the blonde kept silent, she giggled a bit.

"I was purified. In that day, in just a few hours, he had that much of an effect on me. I guess that's the true meaning behind the name "The One Who Purifies God"."

"What are you talking about?"

Nephthys looked up, with a slightly enraptured expression.

"As a god, I could do everything, and thus I held passion for nothing. I envied humans, who craved for the stars, who could fight for the silliest and the most little of things, but I could not truly understand them. If I wanted a star, I could just pluck it. I thought riches were meaningless, love trivial, and dreams worthless.

But, in this very room, I was able to see things in a new light. I enjoyed food, I cried for silly dramas devoid of any real tragedy, and at the end, I was able to create a miracle, and be remembered as a god, instead of moving by simple whims like before. I had someone fight to protect me, and grieve for me when I was gone. Maybe I should thank World Rejecter the next time I see him. Because he made me powerless, I was able to feel all of that. It was a very refreshing experience. You understand, don't you? After all, you also experienced the same."

She looked at her one-eyed interlocutor directly, but Othinus kept silent. She smiled.

"Even now, after escaping, I am still attached to that feeling. I even made this room again to try and recreate what it was exactly that I felt. Considering all of that, isn't it obvious that I'd like to spend more time with the one who made this possible? Do you think any other human besides Kamijou-chan could make beings such as ourselves feel this? When I discovered that he came some days before, I felt excited for the first time since long ago. Today, when I saw him, my heart wouldn't stop beating. I enjoyed myself when the three of us fooled around. Everything is so new."

"Is that the reason you tried to help him so much?"

"Yes. I'd like to spend more time with him if possible, and to be of help. There's so much I'd like to experience. Maybe a situation will come when he'll protect me again. Come to think of it, when we first met I made him touch me to try and see if Imagine Breaker could free my powers. At that time I felt nothing, but things could be different now. How would it feel, the touch of someone dear? Maybe I can give him advice, or console him when he feels down. I might even be able to get along with some of his friends, like that grimoire library."

"Stop. I get it, I get it already."

"Don't make such a face. I envy you, really. After you were purified yourself, you got to spend your life by his side. So many new emotions that you must have felt. I disappeared almost instantly the moment I took conscience of it, so I couldn't relish it. And now I've been given this new chance, so I plan to utilize it as much as I can."

"I feel like a fool now for not seeing that coming."

Nephthys laughed pleasantly, while Othinus gave a tired sigh.

"Well then, I answered everything. It's your turn now. What do you intend to do from now on?

Based on the conversations from the people that appeared about a week ago, they seem to think of this world as a mere game, and taking into account what you've told me, you had no way of knowing otherwise, meaning you used that transition device the first time with that assumption. You wouldn't do something so meaningless like playing a game without any other goal in mind. It's probably related to Kamijou-chan, right?"

Othinus fell into silence once more. Unlike the previous ones, where she was merely waiting for Nephthys to talk, this one was born out of reluctance. Finally, she resolved herself.

"Do you remember the incident with St. Germain?"

"You mean the one from your timeline that Kamjou-chan and you fought? Hmm, by that time we had already descended onto the world and our powers were limited, so I only know the basics."

"Well, that anomaly was nothing more that a liar after all, but some of his ideas had merit. He, or she, or whatever, came up with the idea of the sheath too. However, differently than you of GREMLIN, he intended to fully serve the chosen one."

"So?"

"Do you know what he said in order to convince the boy into playing the role that it wanted?"

"No. As I said, our powers were already limited at the time. That includes our perception."

"He said: "Your friend died because Kamijou Touma wasn't there.""

"Really? Was he involved in some kind of incident with that friend of the boy?"

"No. He had no idea who he was, nor who the friend was, nor where they were, nor why or when that friend died, nor anything."

"That's absurd, then."

"Of course it was. Even the boy thought so. But think about it. Why would the liar raise that point? He may be an annoyance, but to survive no matter the timeline, he most certainly wasn't an idiot."

She let a moment for her words to sink in.

"Kamijou Touma has done things that normal humans thought impossible and saved people who were thought unsavable." She made a gesture signaling herself. "When an individual accomplishes things of such caliber, the way the surroundings perceive him changes. Some will call him a hero. Some will call him a savior.

But, when such recognition is taken to the extreme, other thoughts start to appear. "If he saved her, why couldn't he save me? Why didn't he come running to my rescue like the hero he is?" Those labels that were selfishly imposed by the world become an outlet for those who suffer, and the individual someone to blame for their miseries.

Eventually, someone will pass the stage of lamenting and will _demand_ to be saved. As if it was a right."

A cracking sound brought her back to reality. At some point, she had unknowingly started to grip the table, increasing the pressure the more she talked.

Under Nephthys pensive gaze, she took a deep breath, relaxed, and resumed talking.

"This point is what irks me the most. When he saves someone, he says it's his form of selfishness. He does it because he _wants_ to. To be saved is a gift. It is not his duty, or something that he _has_ to do.

Salvation is _not_ a right.

Of course, right now that isn't a problem" she snorted. "But it will be. Someday, people will come with grievances, searching vengeance for the help that did not come. And they will think themselves entitled."

That was the way of the world. It was in the nature of humans to blame those with power for their failures, no matter if the complains were justified or not.

For example, god.

For example, politicians.

For example, Level 5s.

Nephthys left it unsaid, but she, having watched over the growth of Kamijou Touma along with the rest of GREMLIN since his birth, knew that such a thing had already happened near him.

When a group of dissatisfied students decided to accuse a certain blonde mind controller for their lack of progress in the development of their powers, the spiky-haired boy had intervened. The direct consequence was that he became unable to remember her.

"And so, I will take this chance. You may not know, but back in the real world, this "game" is really famous, any relevant information travels fast, and more importantly, it is not restricted, but free for the masses to learn.

I will make him act in such a way that everyone will know that heroes are humans, and that if in the future he happens to save them, they must express gratitude instead of asking why didn't he come sooner."

Having finished her tirade, Othinus looked at the brown deity, daring her to say anything. Instead, she gazed at her with a somewhat amused smile.

"I see. Now, why don't you tell me the real reason you have come?"

The blonde god glared. A hint of caution appeared inside her gaze.

"That explanation may have convinced the other Magic Gods. I'm not saying they would have understood it, nor your purpose neither the logic behind it, since on a fundamental level we're incapable of understanding such things. But they would have accepted it as a means to a goal, even if said goal was to be considered mundane.

But I'm different. I'm the same as you. I was also saved by The One Who Purifies Gods.

There is something more that's making you act. Something more fleeting and irrational. Something more _humane_."

The listener guarded silence. The speaker's smile widened.

"Is it guilt?"

Othinus' mouth opened slightly, and her eye widened. That much reaction was all it took for the brown beauty to confirm her guess.

"I have spend millenia watching humanity. Now that I can relate to them, I am finally able not only to admire and envy their passions, but to understand them. And you're the one most similar to me, after all. There's no way I wouldn't notice."

Something akin to discomfort transited briefly across the one-eyed girl's features. She started slowly.

"Unlike you lot form GREMLIN, I did have a desire as a god. I yearned for someone who could understand me, who knew of what I felt, traveling across worlds for an eternity, with no way home. With time, I lost sight of my original objective and started concentrating my efforts in finding a way to my original dimension. And then, by chance, while I tried to obtain the Imagine Breaker, my wish was fulfilled. In my efforts to break his mind, I unknowingly subjected him to the same experience I had."

A pause.

"I do not regret it."

She stayed silent for a full minute before resuming.

"I obtained what I wanted, and more. He saved me after I resolved to die as the monster I believed myself to be, and I attained happiness.

But… Sometimes… I can't help but wonder if that was really the only way. He was also a lost traveler between dimensions, true. But his experiences and mine didn't match. I was a wanderer, never knowing what to expect ahead. The worlds he set foot into, however, were all specifically designed to hurt him, to crush him, to make him fight for his life, to destroy his identity, his ideals, his resolve.

The journey he made to stand on the same level as me was nothing more than endless suffering."

The table was starting to crack again, but Nephthys said nothing, limiting herself to watch the other, the smile never leaving her face.

"As I said, I do not regret it. Even if I could, I wouldn't change the past. I'm happy with the current situation, and so is he.

I discovered this world a while back. I admit, the first time I entered, I was simply curious. This was created using both Science and Magic, after all. But, after spending some time here, an idea occurred to me.

Why not use this chance to redeem myself, even a little?"

"Oh? So you intend to recreate this world into something completely opposite from those hells?"

Surprised by the interruption, Othinus gaped at the silver-haired woman, who laughed pleasantly.

"I said it already, didn't I? That I could relate to you the most. It was an easy guess." She frowned. "I thought you were supposed to be the one who understood him, though. He will never accept such an arrangement."

"Oh, but he will." For the first time, Othinus laughed. "You're right in that he couldn't accept it if this was reality. After all, his motivation is always "to go back to my normal life". But this is a _game_."

"I'm afraid I don't follow you."

"I'll explain." Othinus entered lecturer mode. "I did some research the last few days, about games, and I found several interesting things. Most of the time, there's some kind of final goal. The player has to save the kingdom, or defeat the Demon King, or something similar. There are usually smaller goals that must be completed before, but the grand objective is always in sight. However" she raised her finger "in a specific genre of games, there is no such thing.

Some games give the player "freedom", and leave them to their own devices. Games like the one we are both inside right now."

Under Othinus-sensei expectant gaze, Honor Student Nephthys brought a hand to her chin and reflected.

"Then, what's the point? I thought a game was a pastime, an amusement. If there's nothing to aim for, what is it good for?"

"That "freedom" is more important than you think. It allows the player to take his or her own decisions, without any restraint. Simply put, they can do whatever they want, including things that are impossible for them in real life. Then, what do you think people do in these situations?"

This time, Nephthys gave a small shake of her head, to Othinus disappointment.

"They aim for the top. There's no particular reason for it. To become stronger, to gain more money, to improve their craft. That's just the way humans are. Even now, when not even a week has passed since they came to this world, the vast majority of people are killing monsters to make money.

Of course, most game systems encourage that. If you kill monsters, you become stronger, because you gain experience; if you make a good transaction, you gain money; and so on.

This world is practically identical to reality. I'm sure that it is possible for anyone to become an officer, a noble, or even a king if they play their cards right."

"I see... You're not planning to make him accept. He'll have no choice but to accept."

"Exactly. As long as I create a situation where he accomplishes a great deed, he'll accept the reward. He believes this to be a game, after all, so it is to be expected.

The key will be not to be too hasty or too obvious. I won't recreate the world from scratch to suit his needs. Instead, I'll guide him and make him build his influence slowly and steadily. It won't be difficult. He has already amassed a great number of friends and allies who'd be willing to help him in whatever he deems necessary. I plan on letting some of them in on the secret. Besides, I already have experience with worlds where might makes right."

"Oho." The Egyptian Goddess sounded impressed. "So, what is the final goal? You're not planning to make him a god, right?"

"Of course not. He is the farthest human from god. Even without his special hand, his personality is unsuited for that role. No, I'll make him reach the highest seat available for humans. I'll make him a king, a ruler. I'll put him in a position where every desire of man will be fulfilled the moment the very thought crosses his mind. Power, money, women, lands, influence, respect, everything a person could wish for."

"But you must be aware of it, that he doesn't have desires. He is not ambitious."

"It's fine. This is merely a second world. He will continue to lead his normal life in reality, with his friends, running to save others the moment he hears a cry for help, and worrying about school. What he does here will be akin to role-playing for him. And even if he wants to back down, he won't be able to. He has done too many great things, that the moment he steps into power the people will have expectations for him. And you know how he is" she chuckled, "he won't be able to let them down. He'll make a good leader, he has all the necessary qualities for it. After all, the ones better suited to rule are the ones who have no desire for it. And he is the one who wants it the least."

The explanation finished, Nephthys reflected on what she heard, while Othinus rose to leave. She didn't bother to ask her fellow goddess if she intended to help her in her endeavor. After what the crying deity had revealed, it was obvious that, just like herself, she would go along with anything that benefited him.

Before exiting the room, the one-eyed war god stopped for a moment, her hand in the doorknob. She didn't know what impulsed her to say it. Maybe it was because she found someone in her same situation for the first time.

"I created billions of worlds to make him suffer." There was the barest edge of pain in her voice. She took the final step out of the room. Nephthys was almost unable to hear the final whisper. "I should be able to create one where he is happy."

* * *

 **And thus begins the Conquest of a Certain Virtual World. To all of the readers that have reached here, I give my thanks. This chapter marks the end of the first season. Well, not much first season, but rather a pre-season or a Season 0. I like how that sounds. Season 0. Let's go with that.**

 **Magic Gods are tough! I wrote all the scenes with Touma in one go, but the moment he left, it became difficult.**

 **Something I wanted to comment about the rest of the story, is that it will not always transcur in-game. Some arcs will happen in the normal world that we all know and love.**

 **Next chapter, we'll be leaving Kamijou and go for a different POV. There will be three protagonists interacting, two of which are not prominently featured in the fandom, so I hope I'll get them right.**

 **See ya!**

* * *

 **OMAKE**

Magic God Nephthys was watching TV.

 _A bunny ran away from a bald ill-tempered short man._

 _The man was tricked to step onto a plataform with a big red X marked on it, which went off, reveling a spring underneath and making the man fly._

 _A merry tune sounded next, signaling the end of the episode._

 _"That's all folks!"_

"...I wanna try that."

* * *

 **EXTRA** \- Author's reaction the first time he thought of a certain line

 _"Power, money, women, lands, influence, respect, everything a person could wish for."_

 _Women._

Women.

 **Women.**

 **WOMEN!**

 **GOD HATH SPOKEN! LET THE HAREM COME!**

(Disclaimer: Liuen is in no way sexist or has any kind of preconceived idea about the superiority of men, nor does he believes women should throw themselves to that one nice (mis)fortunate guy. He just enjoys harem antics.)


	13. Chapter 12 - Beach Episode (False)

**Hey there!**

 **So, I finished NT16 some days ago. How many times did the words "Oh, no" appear in the first chapter and first half of the second? I think it's the highest concentration in any Index novel.**

 **About Kamisato and his one-man show against the elements. At first I was like "no way dude, no way you can do that", until it hit me: what he was doing is exactly the same Touma has been doing since the very first fight in OT1. During the fight with Stiyl, there was an instance when Touma jumped from his floor to the one directly next below. That's something anybody could come up with, but few could pull off. The same whing happened in several other fights. Some plans that as a reader, they made you think "oh, ok, that makes sense, I guess it could work", but then you reflect, realize just how much danger it involves, and wonder how a "normal high school boy you can find everywhere" could pull them off.**

 **And the final... I guess I see it as Kamachi just trying to contrast Kamijou's and Kamisato's characters more. Kamisato's situations was the same as Touma's in NT9. In short, they had to sacrifice themselves to save the others, be it from the breaking of the perfect world, or from being burned alive. But when their friends try to talk them out of it (the Will and Salome, respectively) Touma shows those "ugly feelings" and ultimately doesn't go through with it, while Kamisato silences her with a method he had sworn to himself not to use.**

 **I think my rant was rather short compared with other people's (totally not looking at someone whose identity will never be revealed and as such his profile photo will have to be illustrated with a question mark), so do forgive me.**

 **Answers to comments:**

 **Darkbetrayer: So there WAS a Raildex conspiracy! I KNEW IT! I knew I wasn't imagining all of those Sisters following me everywhere, in the street, shops, kitchen, living room... bedroom... and bathroom. That was awkward. A warning though: Next time I wake up to find a Kihara in my kitchen, eating my breakfast, drinking my coffee and reading my newspaper, I'm kicking him out, no matter how much "For science" he claims it to be.**

 **Guest: On the lips it would be kinda fast, right? For both of them. Touma might have panicked. Better to avoid that.**

 **Markoz89: Simplemente comenta en la lengua con la que te sientas más cómodo, que yo lo entiendo igual. Gracias por el apoyo.**

 **wildarms13: I don't think gods are bound by the standards all of us have, so who knows? I sure hope a Magic God yandere doesn't appear, that would be terrifying. But we know Kamachi would never do that. Oh wait...**

 **Mr.?: You tell me. The only scenes I have ever seen your logo appear are in police series when the investigators have no clue on someone.**

 **And that's all! Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 12 - Beach Episode (False)

The Desert Kingdom, situated at the southernmost part of the continent, had a peculiar history. It was originally an arid desert, with temperatures unbearably hot during the day and frighteningly chilling during the night. Monsters roamed about the sand, the most common being a breed of massive scorpions, which stood as the undisputed kings of the land thanks to their massive size, poison and numbers, and who preyed upon any unwary travelers that they happened to run across.

Due to the extreme conditions, it was inhabited exclusively by a small number of nomadic tribes, who had learned through generations to adapt or to die. They traveled from oasis to oasis, seeking the water whenever their experience told them it could be found, and they hunted the scorpions with ingenuous traps and weapons smeared with the same venom they extracted from the corpses of their fallen kin. They also traded from time to time with the richer kingdoms to their north, which allowed them to obtain liquor, silks, spices and other such luxury goods.

At some point in time, everything changed. Without explanation, an immense lake appeared in the middle of the deserted land, followed shortly after by the growth of a ring of vegetation which surrounded it. It was as strange as it was sudden.

The new source of the precious liquid changed significantly the ecosystem. The scorpions retreated to the edges of the desert, fleeing from the humidity and cool of the woods. The desert people, with the disappearance of both the water shortage and the monsters, did not have more reasons to travel constantly, and excepting a minority who couldn't give up their lifestyle, they settled down. They build their towns in the forest for practical reasons: access to wood, fertile land, proximity to the water source, and the protection the trees and the shadow offered against the eight-legged beasts. They discovered that the forest also hosted monsters, but even taking into account their group tactics and communities, goblins proved to be far less difficult to defend against.

With time, the towns grew. The original nomads prospered, and immigrants from northern kingdoms came looking for opportunities to become rich, which meant an increase of population. Culture also advanced thanks to the efforts of the Church of Self-Sacrifice, a group who claimed to worship a Goddess responsible for the blessing of water, and which quickly gained power and influence. The towns became the small cities of the present times.

Of course, that was also accompanied by an improvement of the technology used. At the very beginning, water had to be carried manually. A mere half an hour walk was a ridiculously short journey compared to the times when they had to go without seeing an oasis for months, so the pioneers took to the task cheerfully. However, as time passed and the living conditions improved, the enthusiasm withered and what was once a joyful walk became a chore, and so people sought methods to make their life easier. Actually, water was supplied by means of a complex net of aqueducts and canals. Almost nobody approached the lake anymore, since there was no need. Even the players, always eager to explore, had their attention taken towards the desert, due to the Challenge.

That was the reason why the scene that was taking place near the shore of the giant spring was so weird.

Strange noises were coming from the forest. They sounded like someone was cutting branches and trunks, but that should be impossible. A chainsaw or some other mechanic tool would be needed to achieve the rhythm at which the wood fell, but no sound that could be associated with a motor or any other power source could be heard.

The noises grew stronger as they approached the lake, until finally, one of the trees directly in front of the water toppled over. Someone stepped out of the hole that was created.

She was a young girl, roughly fifteen years of age. She had purple-colored hair that she wore in twin-tails, and matching purple-colored eyes. She was wearing some kind of shoddy brown cloth, which marked her as an inhabitant of the other world. A blob of an unidentified material was silently floating on top of her shoulder. By the way it reflected light, it was probably metal. It was a sphere now, but until a moment ago it had an elongated shape and was spinning furiously, so it was probably the tool that had allowed her to deforest her path.

She turned around and shouted towards the hole she just left.

"I'm already here! How much longer?"

"Not much! We're almost there too!"

The twin-tails girl shrugged to herself and took a seat. A bit of sand sneaked through her fingers, and she raised it to eye level, admiring the color and the pristine condition it was in. It was amazing. Upon passing the last tree, the soil had disappeared to be replaced with sand only found in the promotional photos of beaches from travel agencies' promotional pamphlets. There were still a couple hundreds of meters till the shore, so it seemed more like a paradise than an actual lake. She could not see any canal or aqueduct, so she deduced that they were built below the soil to make use of the gravitational potential energy to transport the water.

About five minutes later, the sound of rustling awoke her form her state of contemplation.

"Just how unfit are you?" she asked towards the hole. "The priests said it would took half an hour, forty minute tops if you're out of shape. We took almost two hours, and that's without counting the time we spent resting."

"Just… shut… up… pant, pant."

"There, there, see? We've made it!"

Two more girls stepped through the hole of vegetation. One of them was resting on the other and visibly out of breath. She had long, blonde hair and very nice nice curves for someone her age, but the most striking point about her appearance were her eyes, that had stars designs on them.

The other one, in contrast, had shoulder-length chestnut-colored hair, brown eyes and a slender physique. She showed no signs of fatigue even though she was all but carrying her companion, and appeared instead to be very excited.

"Waa! There's so much water! I can't see the other shore! Ah! Look, look, Misaki-chan! I think I saw a duck fly over me!"

"I know you're excited, but maybe you should let her go if you are going to start hopping around."

"Ah… Hehe. My bad."

The purple-haired girl gave a casual comment, and upon realizing that she was shaking up the other girl, she blushed a bit and gently laid her down on the ground.

"Ugeh… I think I may throw up."

"Sorry, Misaki-chan. I got a bit too overexcited."

"Hmm." The blonde threw a sideways glance at her, and moved her head to face the opposite direction. "Isn't it fine? It's your first time after all."

"Hehe, I guess it is."

"Someone's not being honest again."

"Hiii!"

The voice came from directly behind her head. When she turned, she found that the first girl to arrive had laid down directly besides her, and her face was inches from her own.

"Seriously though, if you're fine to go, we should probably advance a bit closer to the water. We're still too close to the forest. Who knows when one of those goblins could pop up and attack."

"Fine. Your hands!"

With a pull, the brown-eyed girl raised her friends, and they started walking toward the coast.

"Well, this isn't the sea, but I hope you like it for the time being, Dolly-chan."

"Mm-mmh. I like this plenty. The light reflecting in the water is so pretty."

"I'm glad the doctor allowed you to use the bracelet at last. I was beginning to think you'd never get the green light."

"Ah, truth is, I still can't leave the hospital even now, and I have to undergo several daily tests. My vitals are being monitored right now. If everything turns out ok, the doctor said he'll allow me more time to play the next day."

"So you'll have to leave early today? That's got a lot of disappointment power."

"Maybe if someone could walk a liiiitle bit faster, we would have more time to spend… I think here is good enough, but what do you think?"

Kouzaku Mitori turned around to regard the distance between the forest line and their current position, and gestured for the other two to do the same.

"I think it's fine. You have a clear field of vision from here, so if anything tries to attack you can just mow it down with your power."

"Mi-chan also opened the way in the woods. You're so reliable!"

"We were lucky we could use your electromagnetic waves to find such large chunk of metal that I could use."

Kouzaku's esper power was known as Liquid Shadow. It gave her the ability to control liquids with a specific gravity of 20 or greater. Specific gravity is the ratio of density of a substance to the density of a different substance that serves as a reference, which almost always is water.

Normally, a liquid that fit these criteria was incredibly hard to find, since a specific gravity of 20 or higher meant that she could only control liquids that were twenty times denser than water at a minimum, and almost every substance that could fulfill that requirement was a solid metal.

That's why they had employed a little trick. Relying on Dolly's electromaster powers, they searched for a lump of such a metal (specifically, platinum). Luckily, they found one in the forest. They also discovered that there were several rare metals buried in the woods, theorized that it had been designed in such a way to allow espers who used these metals to have a quick way to access their powers and develop them, but there was no way to be sure.

Then they brought it to town, where Misaki "convinced" a local blacksmith to melt it for them. As a result, they obtained the shiny mass that was currently orbiting around Kouzaku's head.

Once bypassed the restriction of finding a suitable catalyst, the teenager's power proved to be incredibly useful. Normally, she fought using a bigger lump that she transformed into a doll of herself, and relied on homing cameras and echolocation to locate her targets, as she could not see through the doll's eyes. With the proper support and preparation, and the fact that she could control the liquid from several hundred kilometers away, she had the ability to become a frighteningly strong and invulnerable fighting force in the battlefield.

Inside the game, she had no support from cameras, so she had to rely on her eyes; her supply of liquid was limited; and she had the added disadvantage that she couldn't hide because she had to stay with her friends. She still slaughtered every goblin they came across with ease, all the while keeping up her task of removing every branch or bush in their way, without breaking pace even once.

The fact that she controlled liquid meant that her construct had no fixed form. It could elongate and rotate rapidly to cut to pieces monsters and trees alike, it could become a thin and wide but nonetheless solid sheet to protect herself and her friends from arrows, and it could take the form of a sphere or a cylinder to deliver blunt force attacks.

As she considered all of that, Misaki thought once more that it was no wonder the Dark Side had wanted the possessor of such a strong power to work for them.

"Anyway, what should we do… Nevermind. Let's rest for a while first."

One look at Shokuhou revealed that her legs were still trembling. As soon as she heard the ok, the blonde dropped to the ground and laid face-up. The other two promptly followed. They spent some time without talking, just looking at the sky.

"You know," began Misaki, "the ocean is way bigger than this."

"Really?"

"Yes. Also, the water isn't static like here. There are waves, that come and go without stop."

"I'd like to see that..."

"We'll bring you there without fail." intervened Mitori. "We made a promise, after all. Someday, when they finish fixing you up and you can lead a normal life."

"A normal life… Oh, right!" The clone's face lit up, and rose to a sitting position. "We can do "that" now!"

""That?""

"We're only girls here now, so we can have a "girls talk"!"

The other two looked at each other for a moment before sitting too.

"Girls talk?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You know! When you are with friends and you talk about cakes, or clothes, or music, or hobbies, or boys you like! You two must have done it already, right?"

"Ah..."

"Um..."

This time, both girls did their best to look away from each other.

"In the Darkness, there wasn't anyone my age I could talk to. Most of the people are adults, and the students that ended there weren't exactly sociable..."

"Most of the people I know are contacts or subordinates from my school, so..."

"Then it's fine! We can have our first time together!"

"(Ughh… She's so innocent, I can't retort and tell her to mind the way she phrases things… She's got so much misunderstanding power...)"

"(I know. It used to happen all the time back in the laboratory. At that time I was also a child, so I happily nodded and went along. Looking back, our conversations were really unbelievable…)"

As one, the two girls sighed. But, looking at the excitement in the face of their friend, they couldn't bear to disappoint her.

"Where did you learn something like that anyway?"

"It was written in a girl's magazine that I found on a table in the hospital, in the section where I was treated."

* * *

"Misaka will have her vengeance, says Misaka 19090 as she grieves for the loss of the last magazine she had kept a secret from the Network. The thief will burn, states Misaka 19090 as she changes the rubber bullets on her F2000R for live ammo."

* * *

"T-Then, you begin, Mitori-chan. Any boy you're interested in?"

"W-What's with that blatant way of deviating the attention from yourself… Don't you know already? You should have seen inside my mind."

"...I haven't."

"Hmm?"

"I haven't, okay? I haven't peeked into your mind, and I never will. That's my promise ability with myself."

Kouzaku just stared at her, wordlessly. Misaki attempted to evade her eyes, but ultimately failed and explained herself.

"After what happened with you," she turned to Dolly, "I swore to myself never again to use my powers with the minds of any friend."

Dolly joined Kouzaku's staring contest and smiled happily at her, while the poor blonde just squirmed with blushing cheeks.

Suddenly, Mitori rose from the ground, joined her talons, and made a military salute.

"General Dolly!"

"What is it, private Mi-chan?" answered the clone as she also stood up.

"I have a report to make!"

"Fumu. Let's hear it then."

"Yes! I have evidence that suggests that Shokuhou Misaki is, in fact, a tsundere."

"Wha-?!"

"Hohou. Interesting. And, on what basis do you affirm that, private Mi-chan?"

"Yes! First, when approaching Misaka Mikoto on the subject of helping the Sisters, instead of straight up offering her cooperation, she made a show of offering a deal to hide her embarrassment. Then, when I confronted her with the fact, she reacted with physical violence."

"I see, I see. What else?"

"Hey!"

Mitori was still standing at attention, and Dolly started to caress an imaginary beard. None of them paid attention to the level 5 who had been demoted to background comedy.

"Yes! Further evidence implies that when confronted with someone she can't brainwash, she attempts to put on a cool and tough front, when her intentions are the contrary."

"Hmm. But from what I see, she has been honest with us, hasn't she?"

"Stop!"

"With all due respect, general, when she tried to ask me about boys a moment ago, she was obviously manipulating the situation. I believe that, in fact, she has already found an object for her affections, and she doesn't want to share it with us because of shyness, which gives further weight to my hypothesis."

"Waa! Misaki-chan, so you already like someone? You're a maiden!"

"Uuuuh… Sniff, sniff..."

The Level 5 had been reduced to a sobbing mess, so Dolly hugged her to offer comfort. When she considered that she had calmed down, she spoke softly.

"Sorry, sorry… we promise not to tease you that much again, okay?"

"Hmph… Now I won't talk."

"And now she's become childish. I think she has more in common with Misaka-san that she cares to admit."

"Then what can we do, Mi-chan?"

"In these cases, you change her focus to a similar topic, instead of asking directly. For example: how many people are there whose minds you wouldn't read?"

"...Why do you want to know that?"

"Just curious." shrugged Mitori.

"I want to know too. Those people are Misaki-chan's friends, right? I'd like to become friends with them too."

"...Fine. In Academy City, I know… three… no, four people whose mind I wouldn't read. Besides you, I mean."

"Whoa…"

"Misaki-chan… You must've been lonely..."

"Dolly-chan! Don't hug me with a face that says that I have no friends! I have a lot of connections, you know? I can be with a lot of people, you know? There are tons of girls in Tokiwadai who'd be willing to pay to chat with me, you know?!"

"Jokes aside, one of them is Misaka-san, right? That doesn't count as "someone whose mind you wouldn't read", but rather "someone whose mind you can't read". And about the others… Hooold on a second, girl."

Unpleasant sweat was pouring from the mind-controller's face as she looked away. Mitori brought her face dangerously close to her friend's and announced:

"Now, we're going to go one by one with those remaining three people, and you're going to tell us what the problem is with each one. Am I clear?"

Misaki gave a small, almost nonexistent nod, still refusing to meet eyes.

"Okay. Now, the first one."

"Ehm… She's a girl my age. She also went to Tokiwadai for a while, but I don't think we were in the same class."

"And…?"

"...And she's a Level 3 mind controller, so she is immune to Mental Out."

"Uwaaa..."

"Don't, Dolly-chan! Stop! Don't look at me with eyes full of pity! I already said that I have frieeeeeeeendsssss!"

"Two chances left. Who's the next one?"

"Ah… Well, she's a girl two years our senior…"

"Does she also attend Tokiwadai?"

"No, no. She's a Level 0, I think."

"Then it's fine, right?"

"..."

"...What's the problem this time?"

"...That damn old hag is too smart… She's never given me the chance to control her… Kh. How vexing! I'll have my revenge one day!"

"So, another failure, huh..."

"Misaki-chan..."

"NOOOOOOOOO! THOSE EYES!"

"One last chance, then."

"Go for it, Misaki-chan!"

"Ugh… Why does a cheer hurt so much..."

"Yes, yes, now stop groveling in self-pity and spill the beans."

"...Fine. The last one's a boy-"

"HERE IT COMES!"

"Don't get that excited, Dolly-chan! I know what it looks like, but if we think about the cases until now, it's a false lead for sure!"

"Too close!"

Misaki was forced to use her almost nonexistent strength to push the faces of the two girls that had jumped forward upon hearing a certain word, but her efforts were unnoticed.

"So? Let's make sure of this first. What Level is he?"

"0. Or so he says…"

"Hmm?"

"Oh, c'mon now. I can accept electric espers, mental espers, and a genius, but you're not going to come out with some kind of special power that no one knows about that can just shrug away a Level 5 mental surgery, right?"

"Actually..."

"Forget I asked." Kouzaku sighed and rubbed her forehead. "It's the same boy that appeared with Misaka-san's incident, right? The one who fought alongside the #7."

Shokuhou looked at her with wonder. "How did you…?"

"It was easy enough to figure out. You can detect minds from afar, so if he was there, you'd have known. If he was a normal person you would've sent him away, and the only reasons you wouldn't do it is if his power could help or if it interfered with your ability. Also, when he saw him, that old bastard was in ecstasy for a few seconds. The only things that provoke that kind of reaction on him are the ones he doesn't know, so his power must be as rare as the #7 at least."

Misaki and Dolly looked at her, one with mouth agape and the other beaming at her.

"People who could not do at least this much tended not to survive for long in the Darkness." She shrugged. "Still, he must be quite important. I didn't hear about him but Gensei did, so maybe his identity is a protected secret or something."

"So to sum it up, Misaki-chan has a mysterious boyfriend who has a mysterious power?"

"You better stop that, Dolly-chan. Look. Now she's lost in a world of fantasies."

"No!" Dolly grabbed Misaki, who was blushing and muttering things under her breath, and shook her. "Misaki-chan! Come back!"

"Ehehe… Maybe we can do that… Eh?"

Shokuhou's eyes regained her light, and faced the two expectant faces of her friends.

"So? Are you going to tell us about your boyfriend or not?"

"! He's not my boyfriend. Also, I refuse to keep speaking about this with you two! I'm supposed to be a cool and mischievous character, who's always in control of the situation! You're awful! My dignity ability doesn't deserve such treatment!"

"Give it up, girl. That's what friends do to your life."

"You're as much of a loner as me!"

Misaki's shame-meter reached the breaking point, and she admitted something that would probably cause her regret later. Meanwhile, Dolly attempted to calm the situation.

"Misaki-chan, now that we're rested, do you want to go play in the water?"

"Hmph!"

As the high-class girl with a damaged pride took off stomping the ground, a conversation took place behind her back.

"(We're going to keep pestering her later, right?)"

"(Of course. We need every detail.)"

* * *

After that, they spent some time playing in the shore. There were no waves, and the ground was made entirely of fine sand, so there were no risks. The girls took of their sandals and ran around, sometimes splashing each other and just having a fun time in general. Though, sometimes strange phrases were uttered.

"Hee hee hee… Now that he acknowledged that I have a mature body and a sophisticated aura, I'll show him next that I can run around without support even when the water level surpasses my ankle! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha! Revenge is so sweet!"

"(M-Mi-chan… Does falling in love make you become like that?)"

"(I don't know, Dolly-chan… Let's just pretend we didn't hear anything and hope she isn't too far gone to be saved.)"

When they got tired, they got back to the sand and laid down again. Normally, Shokuhou, as a refined lady, would've been more careful with how she treated her hair, but she rationalized that everything wasn't real anyway, and rubbed it against the sand without another thought.

"Hey, Misaki-chan. I've been meaning to ask."

"Hmm?"

"Did your teachers or any adult give you any special indication regarding the use of your powers? If it were about abilities that affect the physical world in some way, like mine, then there wouldn't be a problem, because everything disappears when you disconnect. But in the case of mental-based powers it would be different, right? You could manipulate anyone in the real world from this one."

"Hmmm. It's not that easy." She shifted a bit as she searched for the correct words to explain. "My ability is related to the manipulation of chemicals in the brain via controlling the blood distribution, cerebrospinal fluid, moisture, and others, so it has a physical base. If I were to, say, swap another person's concept of apple, such that whenever he eats an apple he believes he's eating a banana, I'd be changing all of those factors in his head. Then, the moment that person logs out, the brain he "uses" would change to the one in the real world again, so the concept is reverted.

That said, the teachers did organize a meeting with all the mental ability users in Tokiwadai. We could still provoke an indirect manipulation."

"How so?"

"Let's say I'm interested in making you trust me. In-game, I could just change the parameters in your mind so that you listen to my every order, but that wouldn't last. Instead, I could project a meeting between us two that conveys positive emotions towards me. And instead of just planting it in your mind, I'd make you live through it, like you were experiencing it at the very moment." She raised a finger. "That's the loophole. Your true body and the one you're occupying right now are connected. Not through chemicals, but through pure thought threads. If it was not, you wouldn't be able to move your body nor experience anything. And of course, those experiences go back to your true brain. It'd be a little silly to play a game you can not remember, right?"

"So you're saying that instead of creating changes in the physical medium, you change the format so that they're transmitted across the proper communication channels."

"Pretty much. The teachers reminded us about that, too."

"Umm… You lost me."

Dolly timidly raised her hand. Misaki and Mitori turned to regard her. Were it any other person, Shokuhou would have used her powers to transmit the information directly to her brain, but she couldn't because 1) she didn't have any remote to help her control her powers in this reality, and 2) she was enjoying herself chatting with someone in equal grounds, as friends. Instead, she brought a hand to her chin.

"Let's do it like this. Imagine that a mind is a car."

"A car?"

"Yes. Everybody has one. However, instead of driving, most people just use the autopilot. The input what they want to do in the internal CPU and the car does the rest of the work for them."

The clone nodded to indicate that she was following, and the twin-tailed girl looked at her curiously.

"And then, you have us, people with mental-related abilities. Essentially, we are people who took driving lessons and know how to handle the vehicle. And not only our own. Since most people aren't aware that they are driving, we can just walk up, open the door, sit on the driver's seat and make their car move wherever we want and obtain whatever data we wish. The higher the Level, the more things we can do."

"I see, I see. What about when you meet other mental ability users or electric-based powers?"

"If I were to try and drive a car of a fellow ability user, it would be akin as trying to get a person out of the driver's seat to occupy it yourself. If the difference in Level is substantial, it might be possible to overpower them with brute force. However, at higher Levels, that's simply impossible. A skilled Level 3 can shut me completely out of her car, because she knows exactly how I'm going to try to approach, and she has enough ability to impede me to do so. That kind of battle usually ends in a stalemate, with both unable to take control of the other's car. They tend to be resolved by how quickly and efficiently can the driver take over the remaining cars in the vicinity.

As for electric espers, following with the simile, they didn't took driving classes. Instead, they ride blinded cars. As before, a big enough difference in level can let me just bypass the security altogether." At this point, her expression turned sour and she shot a guilty glance at Dolly. "That's how I managed to make you believe I was Mitori-chan."

"It's fine, don't worry about it. Just continue."

The brown-eyed girl just waved a hand and smiled encouragingly. Misaki turned to look at the last member of their little group, and found that she was also smiling reassuringly. She took a deep breath.

"Right. As I was saying, they ride blinded cards. The higher their Level, the better their security. And no matter how skilled I am and how many tricks I know, it's impossible for me to break a bullet-proof window. Well, if I try, the occupant receives a shock anyway, so that means my power ability is strong enough to make a car tumble~

By the way, high Level electromasters should be able to mess somewhat with the mind, too, but that would be less like driving and more like hacking the CPU terminal. I'm fairly certain Misaka-san can pull off something like that."

She could. During a certain incident involving two artificial human goth lolis, circumstances ended up with her being administered a paralyzing drug. She was forced to take action shortly after, so she used electricity to control the muscles of her body, using her power to send the signals that would normally be sent by the brain. Essentially, Misaka was hijacking her own brain at the time.

Though Misaki couldn't know, Accelerator could take it one step further. His power was not electricity-based, but his control over vectors allowed him to replicate all of the feats electromasters were capable of. In several different instances, he had used it to "rewrite" the mind of the clone known as Last Order, transmitting far more information in one go than Misaki would be able to. Although to be fair, it was a sort of "Copy & Paste" operation, and whereas his total volume of information was much higher, Misaki's accuracy and comprehension of said information was far better.

"Hee… I think I understand now! Thank you, Misaki-chan! But, that wasn't what you and Mi-chan were talking about, was it?"

"No, no." chuckled the blonde. "Those were the bases about the workings of my powers in reality. In this virtual world it's a bit different. Continuing with the car example, being in this different reality is like using a borrowed car."

"A borrowed car? From a different brand?"

"No, the car is exactly the same as the one you'd use in real life. It has the same characteristics, quirks, capabilities, everything.

Of course, my car is also the same, and I still know how to drive. So I can still just walk to another car and steer the direction wheel to wherever I desire. I can make it gain as much acceleration ability as I want towards a ravine, and I can make it stand on two wheels. But, the car is still borrowed. At some point in time, the passenger will get out of it. And the moment he or she does, all that I did with the borrowed car would be meaningless. Do you follow me up to here?"

"Yes. But you said that you could still affect them, right?"

"Exactly. I could… Oh my."

A rustling sound interrupted their talk. Turning around, the three girls were just in time to see a kid jump out of the forest, some meters to the side of their own hole. He was very young, probably no older than nine or ten years old. He was also wearing robes, but they did not give the same cheap feel as the ones all of the players first awoke with. His face was covered in freckles and he lacked one of his front teeth.

The boy turned around and extended a hand, which was promptly grabbed by a girl who followed after him. She used it as support to cross the last meters safely.

"It seems we've got a gentleman there."

"It would seem so. Oh, they're coming."

The girl started to look around in wonder the moment she set foot on the sand. When she saw the trio, her face lit up in excitement and she started to run towards them. She was as old as the boy, with flowing black hair up to her shoulders, and a cute round face.

"Hello, Onee-sans!"

"Hello! What's your name?"

Dolly's enthusiasm matched the little girl's. She didn't have much chances to interact with other people in the hospital, barring her friends' visits and the doctors and nurses, so she was happy to meet new people.

"Ah, I'm Jane- Mmmgfh…"

"Idiot, didn't I tell you not to speak with strangers? What if we get caught?"

"Mmmaghfppghm!"

The girl glared at the boy, but he took it in stride and turned to look at the girls.

"Who are you people?"

"(Well, well, he seemed like a gentleman at first, but isn't he quite the cheeky little kid?)"

"(Leave it to me here.)"

"Now, now. Why don't you sit here with us, and you explain Onee-chan why are two here so far from the city alone?"

Misaki channeled all of her big-sisterly aura that she had cultivated in order to gain revenge on a certain boy, and released it along with her most refined smile. The boy turned several shades of red and averted his eyes almost instantly.

"Ah, no… Um..."

(This is too easy.)

"W-Well, we could- Gyah!"

"Hmph!"

The girl, who still had her mouth covered, got tired of struggling and kicked the boy in the shin. Once freed, she walked towards the three girls and sat down with them.

"I'm Jane, and this is Mike! We've come to see the lake!"

"Oh? And where are your parents?"

"Ah..." She squirmed a bit and averted her gaze. "Papa and Mama didn't come with me. Mike told me that there was a place where there was a huuuge amount of water, so much that you couldn't spend it all in your life, even if you bathed every day. I asked Papa to bring me here, but he said it was too dangerous, so Mike helped me escape." She suddenly started panicking and flailing her arms. "A-Ah, but this is a secret, okay? Please don't tell Papa or uncle Jerry. They would punish Mike. Please?"

"Don't worry! Your secret is safe with us."

"Really? Thank you, Onee-san!"

Dolly was the most composed of the three, so she was the one who answered. The other two had a less ideal state of mind to converse at the moment.

((Oh, gosh. She's so cute.))

"Why don't you come sit with us?" called the clone to the boy, who had already stoped rolling in pain from the previous kick.

Mike started to walk, but stopped hesitatingly a couple meters away. He took a look at the trio of beautiful, older, and refined girls, and blushed again. Dolly patted the spot next to her, but he remained rooted on the spot.

"Mike, what are you doing? Come here already!"

Jane, tired of waiting, stood up with the facility only kids have, ran to him and dragged him towards the group. He complied, but once sat he only looked at the ground, refusing to raise his head.

"How did you make it all the way here from town? Weren't you afraid of goblins?"

"No, no! Mike protected me. It's true that we found a couple of green monsters while we came, but he told me to hide behind a tree and not make noise. Then, he threw a rock in another way. The monster would go check it, and then we would sneak behind its back."

"So you protected her? I guess that's the job of a man, hm?"

"Of course!" Mike had until the moment resolutely stared at the sand, but raised his eyes instantly. "Pops was a hunter before working at the mansion. He taught me how to avoid monsters! It's the job of a man to protect the girls." He nodded to himself.

"I see." At some unknown point in time, Mitori had unbound her twin-tails and let her hair flow freely. She put a strand behind her ear, and smiled at him. "Then, would you protect us too?"

"! O-Of course! I'm the only man here, so leave it to me!"

The boy was blushing so hard now that his face could be mistaken for a tomato, and both the metal and the mind manipulators had trouble containing their laughter.

((T-This is bad. This is way more fun than I thought.))

Mike was able to endure for two full minutes, which was an admirable effort on his part, before he succumbed to the ambient and had to run.

"Jane! You said you wanted to play, right? We can go now. The water feels nice at this time of the day! Should we go?"

"Really?!" One could almost see the sparkles on the girls face. "Let's go! Onee-sans, do you want to come too?"

"Sorry, Jane-chan." Dolly smiled apologetically in response. "We already played earlier. Maybe later."

"Oh." She seemed a bit downcast, but recovered fast. "Then, see you later!"

"See you later!"

"Bye!"

The three girls watched the two kids sprint to the water, and start running around and splashing each other.

"Ah! That was fun."

"Why didn't you go with them? You're still energetic, Dolly-chan."

"But we were in the middle of a conversation, right? Can you continue to explain, Misaki-chan? I'm curious."

"Oh, sure. Where was I?"

"Borrowed cars."

"Right. I said that I could make their car do everything, but that it would lose effect when the person got down. However, that doesn't mean that the time said person spends inside just disappears. So, instead of manipulating the car, I could show the person a message in the GPS that said that they should go right, or left, depending on what I want. The person will read the message and go left. When they got out of the car, the fact that they went left will be gone, but that they _thought they had to go left_ will remain as a memory or as an experience."

"Oh, so that's the reason the teachers warned you?"

"That's right, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Among the mental-based espers in Academy City, only a handful specialize in mind manipulation, and even less have a high enough level to pull something like that off. I don't think there are more than a few dozen people that could realistically pose a threat."

"Ohhh..."

"Well, don't worry. Ahh… I'm tired!" The explanation finished, she let herself fall on her back and face the sky. "Dolly-chan, why don't you go play with the kids? You probably don't have that much time until the doctors disconnect you."

"Are you sure? Don't you want to come too?"

"I'm fine. I'll rest for a moment with Mitori-chan and go later."

"Okay, then!"

The brown-haired girl excitedly hopped from the sand and took off towards the kids, eager to have more fun in her remaining time.

"Now then."

When she was sure that her more innocent friend was out of earshot, Misaki rose. The playful glint in her pupils was gone.

"Mitori-chan, could you do me a favour?"

"Sure."

The shiny blob of metal, that had taken the form of a collar for the moment, floated away from its owner to the extended hand of the Level 5, morphing in the process. When it reached the extremity, it had taken an elongated and somewhat rectangular shape.

It was a TV remote.

Without hesitation, she pointed it towards the kids, that were happily playing in the water with the older(?) clone.

"You're awful. You said you wouldn't peek into other people's minds not even an hour ago."

"I promised not to look into my friend's minds. I never said anything about other people~ And there's something I'd like to check."

Kouzaku fell silent, while the girl by her side shifted through memories and thoughts. A short moment later, she leaked out a sigh.

"It's as I thought."

"Did you discover something?"

"When we were talking about my powers in this world, what was the piece of the puzzle that we didn't discuss?"

"How did your powers work on the original inhabitants of this world."

The change in topic was somewhat sudden, but the ex-Darkness threader handled it without batting an eyelid. Her interlocutor nodded.

"I did some investigation the first days. I asked the kind priest-san if he had any information power about any mind-related ability in this world, but for some reason he became somewhat cold and told me that it was better not to walk in that direction. I had to extract his knowledge in a more direct way."

"And?"

"There is. It's a branch of magic called mind magic. It seems its users are very rare and are all under direct control of the kingdom. There was also a very interesting tradition that I learned."

"Ho?"

"Whenever a noble child is born, a magician from the capital travels to town and performs a certain spell on them. It's something like a baptism for them."

"What for?"

"In his words, er, thoughts, it "freezes the mind". Simply put, it's a defense against mental interference. It seems there was some kind of incident years ago, when a king fell under the control of one such magician and he ruled for years from the shadows. Since then, it became a law to defend themselves and anyone who may end up in power against mental attacks."

"So a fantasy solution, then. I thought this world was supposed to help improve our powers, but it doesn't seem they plan to do it by giving us new resources to work with. It's not like you could use magic in the real world."

"I wonder."

"?"

It may have seemed strange. The only proof she had of the existence of the supernatural was the word of a boy, uttered as justification when he had been caught in a forbidden zone. Anyone would have dismissed it as a poorly made excuse.

However, Misaki collected each and every interaction she had with him, clung to every word, and treasured them in the depths of her heart. He had said so while worrying over people, so there was no chance he was lying. Maybe she could not change all of her beliefs, but she could at least keep an open mind.

Mitori turned to look at Jane. "So that child's a noble."

"You can tell?"

"Her dress is nicer than any I have seen in the city. She had to escape her house because her father was concerned for her. They were worried about their identity leaking. And most importantly, the boy let it slip that his father worked at the mansion." enumerated the metal user, straightening a finger with each point. "Was her mind really "frozen"?"

"Hmm. Surprisingly, that assertion had a lot of accuracy ability. When I accessed her mind, I could see her most recent memories and thoughts, but nothing too deep. I don't think I could control her. Going with the car example, is like the steering wheel is locked in place and the CPU is blocked in the desktop. I can access the car and I can look at the desktop, but I can't drive it or input any commands."

"Hee… Did you get anything out of the boy?"

"His father is a butler at the local noble's mansion. He worked as a monster hunter for the Guild before, but changed jobs to bodyguard when he got married. He brings him to the woods from time to time and teaches him some tricks to avoid monsters in case he ever finds himself in a bad situation. Also, he has a crush on Jane, but is insecure because she's a noble and him a commoner, so he tries whatever he can to attract her attention. Today's adventure was also the same. They have quite a medieval mindset."

"That's so cute."

"Yes, I thought the same."

"What about them?" She pointed with her thumb to her back.

"You mean the peeping toms in the forest? Those are kidnappers. They work for a noble from the next city. They've been paid to get Jane and make it seem like it was the work of bandits."

"And their instructions on witnesses?"

"Don't worry, it seems they're professionals. They'll wait until the kids go back and make their move in the midst of the wilderness, when nobody will hear anything. Their stance is to avoid bystanders."

"I see, I see. Should I kill them?"

The question was asked naturally, without a change in tone. It didn't come from someone who knew that she was in a game and believed her acts would have no consequence. It came from someone who knew what that word implied, and accepted it. It came from someone who had lived for years in the Darkness.

"No, there's no need. We should make the most of the opportunities life presents us."

She turned her shiny remote in the direction of the forest, where the would-be kidnappers lied in wait. She pressed a button, and sent a certain set of commands directly into their minds.

Her task finished, she turned back again, tossing her controller to its legitimate owner. It melted in midair and floated to the neck of her friend, where it once again became a collar.

She looked to the water, where Dolly was splashing Jane, while Mike sneaked behind the latter. She then looked to her side, where Mitori was grinning happily at the sight of the clone enjoying herself.

She smiled. Today was a good day.

* * *

 **Next chapter, we have yet another POV and then it's back to Touma.**

 **See ya!**

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Why don't you come with us? We'll show you a good time."

"Yeah, yeah, you won't regret it!"

"Hya hya hya!"

The poor girl had been cornered in one of the back alleys of District Seven on his way back from a convenience store. She was a Level 0, so she had no way of escaping. She was on the verge of despair when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay now." smiled a boy with spiky black hair. "I got this. I won't let them hurt you."

As he turned back to face her assailants, she felt her cheeks grow hot. The scene was so cliché that it could have come from a manga, but that did nothing to lessen its effect on her.

She gazed at the back of her savior and wondered just how was he going to handle the thugs. Maybe he had a high level ability?

She was answered shortly after.

 **"FU KO DAH!"**

A bluish wave of energy shot from his mouth and tossed the hooligans around like they were ragdolls. They groaned where they fell, but didn't get up.

She leaked a breath. She was saved.

She prepared to thank her rescuer, who obviously had some sort of sound-related power, when something strange happened.

The boy had somehow changed clothes in an instant. His upper body was bare, he was wearing a helmet with two horns, and he was brandishing an axe. In addition, he was bellowing to the heavens.

"UWOOOOOOHH! BRING ON THE DRAGONS NOW!"

Deciding that the boy might be even more dangerous than the thugs, she retreated silently until the entrance of the alley, but then she heard footsteps accompanied by somewhat rhythmic sounds. When she turned her head, her breath caught in her throat.

White hair. Red eyes. Black and white clothes. A cane.

Accelerator had arrived.

Hoping to make herself as small as possible, she held her breath as he approached the alley and gazed with something that appeared to be nostalgia at the boy inside, who was still shouting to the sky.

Then, suddenly, he turned to look directly at her, and spoke:

"I used to be a hero like him. Then I took an arrow in the knee..."


	14. Chapter 13 - Cage

**Hey there!**

 **Man, writing this one sure took a long time. This chapter was hard to write. Like, hard hard. We're talking about Accelerator-level of tough here. I blame it on the lack of comedy. I mean, the main character for this one doesn't usually get involved in hijinks, and I coulndn't bring myself to write her OOC for a couple of bad laughs that wouldn't have been that funny either way. Thanks to that, it was hard to muster up enough motivation. I'll reflect on it.**

 **Anyway, I finished it somehow so all's good. Here're the answer to the questions as usual:**

 **pandawa: Yeap, that's what I meant. Who knows what was going on through my head.**

 **Anon: The fourth one is Misaka, Kozaku mentioned it in passing.**

 **Syko-Soldier963: I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out!**

 **Guest: ...Sorry, I've no idea what that "SO GE BU" is supposed to mean, or where it originates from for that matter. The joke was that Fukoda and Fus Ro Dah sound kinda similar.**

 **Blinded in a bolthole: You serious? I had no idea. How many guards in Skyrim got married in the same year?!**

 **And that's all! There weren't that many questions compared to the amount of time that passed since the last update this time. That means either I explain myself very well, the story isn't that interesting, or you're all shy. You cute things. ...I hope it's not the second one.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 13 - Cage

The Philippine Arena.

Located in Ciudad de Victoria, in Philippines, this behemoth boasted a seating capacity of 55.000 people, which elevated it to the position of world's largest indoors arena. That digit, however, did not take into account the plaza just outside of the building, that allowed it to double the number of people that it could accommodate for large-scale events, and which raised the number of spectators that could attend at a given time to over 100.000.

It was property of a local religious Christian cult, but as it was purely a civilian institution, not involved in the magic side. The stadium was not only used to host pious ceremonies, but also basketball matches, boxing competitions and live-concert performances.

One of such concerts was taking place tonight.

The number of people attending was mind-blowing. The tickets for the seats had sold out in less than 48 hours of going into sale, and the plaza was so cramped that it was difficult to even walk. Vendors walked among the people, offering refreshments, hot dogs, sandwiches and cold water, which the spectators gratefully bought to try and escape the heat that so many people generated standing so close to each other.

People from different countries pushed and fought for the best viewing spots. The predominant nationalities were Filipinos and Japanese, the first because they were the locals, and the seconds because Japan was from where the performer came from, and the number of loyal fans she had gathered who went to every concert was greater there than in any other country. After them, the most numerous were people from different Asian countries, but that didn't mean stop some of the most die-hard enthusiasts from Europe or America from making the travel to show their support and see their idol in the flesh.

The tension kept growing higher as time went on and the appointed hour became closer. At one point, a certain group made their way towards one of the most privileged seats.

"There they are! They have come!"

"What's wrong, man?"

"The _Crows_! It's the _Crows_!"

The _Crows_. That was the affective nickname a specific group of followers had earned from the rest of the fanbase. It consisted of grown men, all of them tall and with obviously trained builds, who always wore black under the pink banners and support posters they were known for carrying around.

However, it wasn't their appearance that earned them their fame, but their perseverance. At least one of them had seen spotted in every single act the performer had attended, from humble street performances where one of the group members could always be found hanging around in a nearby alley, with a direct line of sight to the singer; to the massively crowded large-scale concerts like today's, when the complete group wouldn't fail to reserve one of the best spots to follow the act.

Due to the dissonance between their intimidating aspect and black attire and the bright and colorful supports banners they carried, not to mention the genre of the music the artist was known for singing, the origin of the group had become a popular target of speculation. Some theories claimed that they were members of a martial arts sect who's leader had reached enlightenment while listening to the music, and had tasked their disciples with the labor of supporting her as thanks. Another maintained that they were members of a bodybuilding gym that simply liked that kind of music but couldn't make it public in order not to ruin their curt and rugged image, and took their concerts as a chance to cut loose and enjoy themselves. Yet another sustained that the idol was actually the daughter of some yakuza boss, and they were tasked with her protection.

As the public directed curious glances at the impassible group and some wild guesses at their identity were thrown here and there, the curtain on the stage started to open. The whispers and conversations gradually died down and the public waited with bated breath, expectant.

"Thank you for coming, everyone!"

A roar of cheers answered the lively voice that sounded from the dark stage. A few moments later, a single spotlight lit up and fell on a lone figure, finally revealing the star of the show.

She was a young girl, probably no older than 16 years of age, with long, flowing pink hair and equally pink eyes. Her clothes were undoubtedly prepared for the occasion, consisting on a short dress that donned mainly the colors black and white and a matching hair accessory, and she completed her look with a dazzling smile while waving at her audience.

Her name was Meigo Arisa, and she was a singer, though that was not the word that first came to mind when one talked about her.

After her debut in the space elevator Endymion, she had jumped to the front of the entertainment industry. It didn't take long for an agency to scout her and let her have her "official debut", this time without the risk of falling from space. Her songs had already been popular before, but the new media presence that she acquired skyrocketed the number of her fans to an even more extreme amount.

Interviews, radio podcasts, concerts, and of course, her becoming one of the beta-testers of the new game and conveying her impressions to the masses were only some among the variety of events that she starred on an almost weekly basis. The most popular, however, remained the random, completely free-of-charge street performances. Those were blink-and-you'll-miss-it shows, usually consisting of merely the singer and her keyboard, and only two or three songs sounded before she bowed and left. They were so fast that spectating one of them was solely a matter of luck, and those that had the fortune of running across it could then brag to their acquaintances.

After a video of one still-to-be-released single was sung during one of those shows and went viral on the net, she was asked during an interview the reason for such acts. Her answer had been that her beginnings as a musician were simply singing and selling her songs in the streets, and that those were memories that she was fond of and didn't want to forget. A single being revealed like that might have made her agency furious, but her charm and sincerity brought her closer to the people instead, and the song sold out merely four hours after being released.

Of course, a member of the _Crows_ being spotted near every single one of those performances gave birth to no small number of ridiculous rumors, which went from stalkers to special forces to one of the City's Directors personal guards, who'd have access to the cameras all around the city and could thus find her no matter her chosen location.

In fact, some bored teacher had released a map that predicted the probability of Arisa having a performance on each of the districts, based on the previous location of her shows. She seemed to favor a certain bridge from which the Endymion could previously be seen, having gone there almost a double number of times that the rest of the places.

Considering all of the above, Meigo Arisa had become an idol.

"I'd like to start this evening with a favorite of mine, _telepath ~Hikari no Tou~_!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

As the first compasses started to sound on the stage, the frenzied crowd gradually fell silent and let themselves be carried away by the sweet voice.

* * *

"Phew! That was tiring."

Hours later, in the backstage, that same idol was resting in her assigned dressing room. The show was over, and the majority of the crowd was going back to their homes or hotels to try and get a bit of sleep out of the few hours of darkness that remained until the new sunrise.

Still, shouts and cheers could be heard even among the layers of walls between her and the scenario, indicating the huge success of the performance.

Arisa smiled happily as she leaned back on a chair. Without standing, she reached towards the small closet nearby that hid a small cooler. She glanced over the possible choices, and a small debate began to rage in her mind between cool tea and orange juice. The tea won in the end.

She took small, deliberate sips, relishing the cool sensation on her throat after hours of singing.

A crescendo in the intensity of the cheers made her smile once more. She jumped from her seat and twirled a bit in the room, putting to practice some of the dancing moves that she had just displayed to the world mere minutes ago. Unfortunately, she had already sang two extra songs that were not in the original plan and that was the limit that her producer was willing to accept per concert, so she could not go out and join her fans for the rest of the night.

Her steps eventually brought her to the small bed at one side of the room. There was nothing more to do for the night.

She mentally went once over her schedule for tomorrow. The days after a concert were always free, since they were very demanding on both the body and voice. She would sleep until the morning was well past its zenit, have a late breakfast and just relax for the day. She planned on playing a bit of the game for a couple hours. In the afternoon, she would study. Being an idol didn't exempt her from the duties of a 16-year-old girl, and she had to prepare for exams all the same.

For the day past tomorrow, she wasn't sure if she had a photo booth or another game promotion event. She made a mental note to ask her manager when she took a break between studies.

Her planning finished, she turned around in the bed. She had not bothered to change from her acting clothes, but she did not feel uncomfortable.

It was not the first time that she would spend the night in the same building where she sang. It was something that she personally requested. If she were to try and leave at the moment, then they had to either ask for an helicopter or risk being swarmed by overenthusiastic fans, both situations that the agency would rather avoid (helicopters were not cheap), so they gladly acquiesced to her request. Personally, she liked to sleep at the sound of cheers. It made her feel like her music was really connecting with the people, and gave her a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that she wouldn't change for anything.

Leaking out a sigh of contentment, she drifted off into sleep.

* * *

She was awoken by a pressing urge to go to the bathroom. The interior of the room was dark. She didn't remember turning the lights off before falling asleep, so probably one of the workers that entered to check on her was responsible for the change.

She rose from the bed and, not bothering to turn the lights on, she searched for the door that connected to the adjacent bathroom. She found it rather easily and set about her business.

A couple minutes later, she finished washing her hands and went out of the restroom. She intended to head for the bed again, but then stopped.

There was something odd. She hadn't noticed before as her business was more urgent, but now that she was relieved it readily became apparent.

She went to sleep past 4 AM. No matter how many hours she had spent in Morpheus' realm or how much of a heavy sleeper she was, by the time she awoke, it should be daytime. And yet, the light that filtered behind the drawn curtains was significantly less than it should, even for a cloudy day.

Now that she was aware of the first oddity, she started to notice other signals, each more apparent than the last. The window was not exactly at the same height she remembered it was before sleeping. The bathroom door was in the opposite wall from where it was supposed to be. Even the height of the bed in relation with the floor was slightly different than how she had thought it was.

A bad premonition assaulted her. Rapidly washing away the remaining drowsiness, she probed the walls until she found a switch, and pressed it without hesitation.

Light inundated the space, and the scene she saw confirmed her suspicions: she was not in the same room where she was supposed to be.

The location she awoke into was not that different in regards to the other one in terms of volume, both being pretty small and a bit cramped. However, while the former owed that condition to a number of wardrobes where diversity of stage costumes were stored, the present one was small simply because there was little space between its walls.

Arisa's gaze wandered to the doorknob of the only door, but after a moment of reflection headed for the window instead. She fumbled a bit with the frame, but not finding any mechanism to unlock it, she gave up and tried to peer outside across the glass.

It took her a few seconds to recognize what she was seeing, and when she did, she raised her guard even further than it had already been.

What she saw was an endless extension of perpetually moving black waves. Judging by the altitude, she was in a considerably big ship.

Abandoning any idea of jumping, she went back to the door. The fact that it was night meant that she had been sleeping for a whole day at the very least, so there was no telling just how far she was from the coast, and the prospect of swimming without orientation for hours didn't attract her in the slightest.

A quick examination revealed that the it was closed. There was no keyhole below the doorknob, so it was impossible to pick it. Hitting it lightly, the sound it made informed her that it was made of some kind of heavy metal, highly resistant to impacts. There was no point in trying to force it open by force either.

In conclusion, she was effectively trapped in a ship, heading towards an unknown destination and with no way out.

She spent the next few minutes combing the room. There were no cameras that she could see, but that didn't mean anything. They could be hidden inside the walls or any other place that she couldn't access, or they could be using different methods of collecting information. She didn't find any of her personal possessions either. That included her phone, computer and even the game device, so she was left without any way to contact the exterior. They only things that remained were the stage clothes she was wearing and the wig she had forgotten to remove.

With nothing to do, she went back to the bed and lied down, facing the ceiling. She didn't feel like sleeping anymore, not after spending an entire day asleep. Thoughts swirled inside her mind, about her situation, future plans of action, the possible identity of her kidnappers, and several other questions.

In time, she felt like she smelt something sweet, but couldn't be sure. Her thoughts grew muddy and, without pain or fuss, she slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

The next time she woke, she was no longer in the same room as before. This time, she was not in a bed, but in a rather comfortable padded armchair.

As she rose, she took in her surroundings. In contrast with the previous room, she found herself facing an enormous auditorium, with rows upon rows of seats that continued as far as the eye could see. The floor was made of wood, and she was in an elevated position compared to the first seats. All of that made her assume that she was in a stage, one that was presumably as large and wide as the gigantic hall that extended before her.

Assume, and not be sure, because at both her sides stood two enormous walls, that blocked her view to the sides. From her seated position, the seats in front where all she could manage to see.

"Welcome, Arisa Meigo, to heaven."

A sudden voice startled her, and at the same time, the light of a focus fell from above, but it fell on her instead of the owner of the voice. Still, she was used to the spotlights, and with the illumination the light provided she was able to barely discern a silhouette sitting in the first row of seats, in the hall. That she failed to see it before was probably because of the poor lighting of the room, which prior to the focus came from very dull lamps posted at even intervals in the floor, below the stairs situated between the seats.

The voice was low-pitched and deep, masculine without doubt. Also, it had addressed her as "Arisa Meigo", and not "Meigo Arisa", with the given name first, as it was customary in western countries. It was probable that the owner hailed from Europe or America, if she was to judge from the accent.

Noticing the lack of response, the voice continued, unperturbed.

"Oh, that's right, you're originally from Academy City. It wouldn't be strange for you not to know about heaven. Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I said paradise?"

Arisa tried squinting her eyes to distinguish something more about the figure in front, but it was to no avail. A faceless shadow was all she could see. Giving up, she made the gesture to stand, but the voice stopped her.

"Oh, please do not try to leave now. You will be given plenty of time to explore your new surroundings to your heart's content, this I promise. For the moment, I would like to suggest that you remain where you are and listen to me. I am sure you will find some answers to some of the questions you're no doubt having."

Reluctantly, she let herself fall in the chair again, and waited for her interlocutor to resume.

"First of all, allow me to apologize for our mistake during your transport. Originally, the dosage you consumed should have been enough to last until the next scheduled administration, and the first thing you would have seen upon awakening would be this very room, were all of your questions would have been answered. Unfortunately, it seems it was not as effective as we believed it to be. It must have caused you a great deal of stress to wake up in that unfamiliar situation. Was that perhaps because your body is already used to the medication of Academy City? We made sure to correct the next dose, but that is hardly a proper compensation."

"You drugged me?"

Arisa blurted the question out, unable to contain herself. Meanwhile, her mind started to go into overdrive. Academy City. The voice knew where she was from, but that was hardly a secret, every fan of hers knew something as basic as that. However, he also knew that drugs were involved during the Power Curriculum Program. While the basics "it uses drugs, hypnosis and studies" was common knowledge, to accurately determine the dose needed to incapacitate her indicated that his relationship with the City of Science was probably deeper than normal.

"Indeed. I need to ask for your understanding on that, as it was the most secure way to bring you here without letting you know. It would greatly inconvenience me if the location of this place was found out, so I cannot afford to take any risks."

Which meant that she was probably in a secluded location, only known to a select few. Most likely, communications with the exterior were carefully monitored, or in the worst case completely banned. It would be very difficult to send a message for help.

"No reaction? You're very calm. I am honestly very grateful for that. Sometimes, our guests lose all sense of reason, panic and start to shout uncontrollably, damaging their precious voice in the process. In such cases, we had to put them to sleep to get them to calm down, but it seems that won't be necessary for you."

She was not the first person to be brought here. Also, the man put emphasis in mentioning the voice. Making connections with the stage, the hall and the spotlight, she concluded that the most likely reason she was chosen as a target were her activities as an idol. She also realized that when she tried to talk before, her throat did not feel the least bit dry. That voice had mentioned that the first time she woke was the first dose of drug's effect ended, but she did not know had long it had put her to sleep. Still, even if she assumed the minimum amount of time, it still was more than a day without ingesting any liquid. That she did not feel discomfort with her body, and specially her throat, showed the care they had had for her well-being.

"…Who are you?"

There was no point in asking about their location, after all the efforts they had made to avoid her noticing where she was being transported. It would also be difficult for the kidnappers to reveal their intentions so easily. Taking everything into consideration, she decided that asking about their identity gave her the highest odds of obtaining potentially crucial information.

"Hahaha! That is a very good question. Unfortunately, I cannot give you my name, as it would defeat the whole purpose of having you here. Say, are you perhaps wondering why is it that we brought you to this place?"

Hesitatingly, she nodded. She didn't expect to be given that piece of info so readily, but she had nothing to lose trying.

"I'm sure an intelligent girl like you already has an idea or two, right? It is as you suspect. I have brought you here to hear you sing."

So it was. She was still wearing stage clothes and her wig, after all.

"As for my identity, I am merely someone who desires to enjoy excellent tunes. Your voice deserves to be heard upon the greatest of stages, and your songs to be sung across the most unparalleled of halls. I am someone who loves music and who wishes to bear witness to such feats of lyric mastery. As such, my name is unnecessary, for I am someone who watches from the shadow of the audience upon the lights that are the performers. If you need to think about me in some way, then it would be best to refer to me as The Spectator."

Arisa continued to stare in front, unflinching. While the explanation resolved most of her doubts, there was something nagging at her. Before the voice expressed its desire to hear her sing, there was something else. "An intelligent girl like you". She had the feeling that it was pronounced in a somehow deliberate manner, but…

As if responding to her thoughts, the voice spoke again.

"It appears you have noticed after all. As one would expect of a Level 4."

"…"

Abilities were based on related science theories. A teleporter needed to know how to calculate dimensional equations, an electromaster required knowledge about electric flow in order to activate his powers, a pyrokinesist had to study combustion and entropy laws, and so on. Naturally, the higher the level, the more intelligent one had to be to make use of his ability.

Still, that kind of common sense was something that was only considered as such by the people of Academy City. The rest of the world did not know that many details.

Since the person she was talking with had mentioned something like that so casually, then the possibility of him (or her, it wasn't discarded just yet) being involved with the City was high.

And, if he knew about that common sense, then…

"Ah, right. You were subjected to a couple of operations before you woke. You don't have to worry about anything, as they were really minor, a couple of mere scans and negligible surgeries. We extracted the tracking devices in your blood. As I said, this is paradise. It wouldn't do for the people living in Eden to receive unwanted visits, right?"

As expected, he also knew about that. Espers were very valuable. Foreign powers could extract information from an esper's body and brain that could, in the long run, prove vital to deciphering the process of creating the abilities. In order to prevent that, Academy City marked all the students that left its premises with a tracker, undetectable and invisible to normal methods.

"Now, this will be all for today's introduction. When you're ready, please stand up and head to the furthest end of the room. Across the door you'll find your lodging. I hope you acclimate fast and for you to enjoy your new life, Miss Sequenzia."

The light faded out, and with it the silhouette that could be discerned in the shadow. Without waiting, Arisa rose from the armchair and headed to the back of the room, where an open door was waiting for her. With multiple questions floating still floating around in her mind, she stepped forward.

* * *

Five days passed. At the other side of the door, she had found a room as big as the previous space where the armchair was. An enormous bed sat in a corner, and a section was separated via translucent walls to create space for a bathroom (that included both hot and cold baths, as well as a Jacuzzi). There was also an enormous dresser room, but a quick inspection revealed that it was empty. A table and a comfortable-looking chair were to the side, and a plasma screen was incrusted in one of the walls directly across the bed. As she discovered shortly after arriving, it could be used as both a TV and a computer monitor. The TV had an incredible high number of channels, and the foreign ones were either dubbed or subbed, but it was the computer, controlled by a wireless tablet, that quickly gained her attention.

The browser was locked from sending any message to any site. Instead, upon accessing, it listed under favorites a certain web she didn't know, registered simply as _WISH_.

Following the link she gained access to an incredible extensive and varied catalogue, which included everything she could imagine. She browsed between dresses, food, furniture, facilities, games, and an endless array of luxuries for a while, noting with surprise that none of them had any kind of price attached. Deciding to test a theory, she purchased a pizza and a bottle of tea, a couple dresses, a subscription to her favorite music site, and a bowling lane.

The results were, more or less, as she expected.

The subscription was available immediately after she finished the registration process. After that, the food was the fastest to arrive. With a soft "ding", a portion of the wall the size of a window opened vertically like a garage door to reveal a plate with the pizza, a glass with the tea, as well as a fork, a knife and napkins.

The dresses and the bowling took a bit longer, until next morning (according to the hour displayed by the computer, which she wasn't that sure she could trust). The clothes appeared inside the dresser, while the lane just took some of the free space on the room. She wasn't sure if people had entered during her sleep or if the room was designed to change according to the owner's wishes, but while it made her a bit uncomfortable to have unknown people so close to her when she slept, it didn't matter that much in the grand scheme of signs.

As the voice had said, it was, in a certain way, paradise.

Any desire was fulfilled. Any craving, be it for food, possessions or experiences, could be granted. Some of the things listed were as crazy as parachuting from the Himalayas or deep diving in the middle of the Atlantic, and she had no doubts that, were she to request for those, they would manage a way to let her enjoy them.

However, after a mere 24 hours, she realized the fatal flaw that laid within that system.

That heaven on earth was, for lack of a better word, empty.

The food was delicious, but she had no one to exchange opinions or recommendations with. She could obtain limited or exclusive goods with ease, but there was nobody she could share with or brag to. She could go for the most amazing of adventures, but she would lack any audience to whom she could explain them.

And, most importantly…

A soft _click_ interrupted her musings.

The front door, from which she had entered the room the first time yesterday and which had remained firmly closed despite all of her efforts so far, now opened silently. The message was clear.

Rising up, she proceeded forward. The scene at the other side of the door remained unchanged. The hall, the lights, even the armchair were there. Unsure of what to do, she opted to simply sit down. The moment she had made herself comfortable, the spotlight descended upon her.

"Welcome back, Arisa Meigo. I trust your days were comfortable."

Unsure of what to say, she opted to go for the most obvious question.

"Why have you called me?"

"Naturally, it is to ask something of you. I didn't go through the trouble of having you brought here if I didn't have a reason to do so, don't you think?"

Seeing that she remained silent, the voice chuckled.

"Please, there is no need to be tense. I have merely called you in order to notify you that in two days, the day that marks a week since your arrival, it will be time for your debut. You will sing here, in the greatest stage of the world. What song you wish to sing, I will leave it to you. Of course, should you have need for any kind of music sheet or instrument in order to practice, you only need ask for it. As for the vestment, you're free to ask whatever you wish for as well, but I'd recommend your original garments. It is only a preference of mine, but I encourage the use of your own clothes for your debut. It is what brings best out the personality of the owner."

The connotations did not escape the girl.

"You mean that it won't be only one time?"

"But of course. The usual schedule is once per week. The only requirement is not to constantly repeat the same song. Everything else will be left to your discretion."

"…And if I refuse?"

That was a tricky question. Unlike physical labor, singing was something that couldn't be forced. It would be a different matter if it was limited to something simpler, like talking, but the human voice was something delicate. It would shake, tremble, and be damaged, depending not only on the physical state of the person, but the mental one as well. If she was truly determined to decline, there wasn't anything the other party could do to force her.

"That would be most unfortunate, for both of us. No physical punishment will befall you, if that is what you were worried about. However, you would find that certain commodities that you have been enjoying would no longer be available for your use."

"Certain commodities…?"

"Indeed. We enforce a point system. Every song gains you a number of points that you can then use in the manner that you find more convenient. Starting today, the five days period of grace is over, so from today on everything that you wish to purchase will cost you points. Of course, that still doesn't make it impossible for you to refuse. Sickness, mood swings, slumps or simply lack of motivation can all hinder an otherwise enjoyable performance, and there's anyone can do against such enemies. It wouldn't do to force a singer against her consent when the reasons she have are legitimate and out of her control. As such, basic commodities will be provided even if you were to not sing several weeks in a row. I'm afraid, though, that when compared with the rest of your stay, you would find your life quality… _lacking_."

After the voice bid her farewell, Arisa headed back to her room, keeping her mouth shut as she walked, analyzing. She had to admit that whoever ran the place had come about with a pretty elegant solution to make her want to sing. As stated, forcing the voice was no good with the great majority of people, so they had come about with a system based on recompense instead of punishment.

Reaching for the tablet, she confirmed that in the _WISH_ website, under every commodity offered, the symbol of a musical note (a quaver) had appeared, just near a previously unseen number in red digits.

She quickly searched for the options side bar, and selected the "order from" option, beginning from the cheapest product to the most expensive. At the very top off the list there was mineral water and bread, free of charge. Food and other daily goods (toothpaste, toilet paper, and such) had very low prices. Scrolling down, some of the not so necessary but still used commodities began to appear, and the trend continued until the end of the web.

Sighing, she ordered water and bread, as she had no points to order anything else. This was also probably a part of the strategy, she mused. Forty-eight hours of sustenance based on water and bread would be especially hard after the five days of bliss, and would leave a very strong impression in the mind of the prisoner that would condition it favorably towards giving in to the coaxing of the Spectator.

She ate, drank, refreshed herself and, with nothing else to do, drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Two days later.

Wearing her stage costume, as well as her wig, Arisa walked to the door, and slipped into the room with the armchair. As soon as she sat, a spotlight light up.

"Ah, miss Arisa. I am very glad to see that you have accepted to perform today."

She didn't answer. Instead, she rose again.

"Nervous? No matter. That is routine for performers. The time has come. Step forward into the world's greatest stage."

At that moment, a faint buzzing sound was heard. It took her a little moment to identify it, but a faint reflection clued her in and she deduced what it was. Walking forward, she raised her hand, but she touched nothing but air. There had been some crystal there before. It wouldn't make sense to leave an open venue of escape for a prisoner, and the hall was so big and dark that it gave a potential escapee a lot of space to run and places to hide. The sound was probably that crystal being raised.

Taking a deep breath, she continued to march onward. As she left the walls behind and her field of vision expanded, she had to contain a gasp.

The auditorium was not merely big. It was gigantic. What she had seen until the moment was a mere part of the whole. She continued to walk and walk, to the limit of the stage. As she suspected, there was another crystal there.

She turned around. She had unwittingly traveled quite a long distance from the moment the walls ended to the spot where she was now, at the edge. Staring around, her mouth dropped in surprise. The stage itself was probably even longer horizontally than the hall itself. It stretched way and far behind her vision's reach, becoming lost in the darkness.

"I think you have spent enough time being amazed, my dear. Now, if you'd please."

A second spotlight came to life, just in front of her, and at the same time a microphone rose from the ground, just under it.

Instead of heading there, she took her time to examine the space with the extra visibility that the new light source granted her.

She discovered that, extending at both sides of the room she had come from, there were more identical spaces. Walls were placed at even intervals as far as she could see. The only difference with her own was that little reflections showed that each and one of them had the glass pane down. At the top of each cell seemed to be words, but she could only make out the ones above her own.

Miracle Singer.

Arisa walked to the mike. The voice had said nothing to hurry her in all this time, and she could almost feel the anticipation. She took the mike in her hand and brought it close to her lips, but then stopped. When she finally opened her mouth, what came out was not a melody.

"The first day that we met" she began, "you said that you were grateful that I didn't panic, as other guests ended up damaging their voice when they did. Should I assume that mine isn't the only performance planned for the day?"

The voice took a couple seconds to respond.

"…Is it because you have seen the other rooms, that you have come to this conclusion? Indeed, it is as you say. You are not the only singer that has been chosen to enter paradise. However, if it is rivalries or the like that worry you, you can put those fears to rest. Each of you is being given equal treatment in accord with your efforts. There are no sufferers in Eden."

"Hm."

Taking the microphone from its holder, she walked back, not to her own room, but to the neighboring one. The light there was dimmer, but now that she was closer, she could barely read the word on top.

"Chilean Mockingbird." she read the two words, before turning around. "Real name Isidora Contreras. Disappeared from Chile, her birth country, at the age of 15, two months ago. She had been studying music since young, and was recognized by teachers and family alike for her talents. Still, she hadn't decided if she wanted to become a professional, both because she was too young and because her parents opposed it. Mockingbird was the affective nickname that the people from her music school called her by."

She received no answer, but she ignored it and began to move again. Instead of heading further apart from the light, she moved in the opposite direction, until she was in front of the other booth that made contact with her own.

"Snow Songstress." This time there wasn't even a pause. "Real name Anna Hämäläinen. Gone missing at the age of 24 from Germany, just after her first international recital. As she was still not very well-known, her disappearance did not cause that much of a scandal. Snow Songstress was the name used to promote her to the public."

She came back again and stood behind the mic holder. Then, she just waited. It didn't take long for the voice to make itself known.

"…Who are you?"

In spite of herself, she grinned. That was the exact same question she had asked the day she arrived. It felt kind of ironic how the roles were reversed this time around.

"Those first five days I destroyed quite a number of appliances" she said, completely changing topics all of a sudden. "However, I didn't get anything useful. You did a good job on that part. It appears you took a lot of precautions in regards to my ability."

Televisions, microwave ovens, cameras, lighters, LED lights, and several others utilities usually included different rare metals in their construction. For example, Lanthanum in camera lenses, Lutetium for the LEDs, Yttrium for television… Naturally, Arisa had studied the most frequent usage of each of the seventeen elements that her ability allowed her to use, in case she ever needed a quick supply. During the five first days, not only did she conduct tests about the workings of the system in place, she also thoroughly checked for any trace of metals she could work with hidden among the vast number of commodities she had purchased. However, she was disappointed, as not a single gram had been used in the construction of any appliance, favoring instead other metals that were useless to her.

"Your understanding of Academy City is certainly superior to most people." She continued, starting to walk forward to the edge of the stage once again, and towards the ever-watching shadow. "The use of drugs, naming conventions regards ability users, and inner workings of esper powers are all things one could not normally know. But..." she was now in front of the crystal, the last barrier separating her from her "sponsor". "it is not as complete as you believe it to be."

The error in the dosage during the first night was the most telling sign. If he could grasp everything completely, she wouldn't have woken up. Even he had admitted to the mistake.

Also, if he truly knew such a thing, then he'd be either living in the City or dead.

The silence stretched at the other side of the glass, and though she had no facial expressions to or body language to gleam information from, the awkwardness and feelings of caution of the other party reached her nonetheless.

"At best, you are at the level of a partner institution."

In other words, he only got the scraps.

"Did you really think that you could make someone from Academy City disappear and be left alone? The same city that controls the every entry and exit of each of its inhabitants? The same city that was capable of fighting WWIII by itself without deploying a single human, and who was winning?"

Arisa brought a hand to her hair and started playing with one of the pink-colored strands. Gone was the soft-spoken idol that everyone adored. In its place, a stern and low voice had now taken command over the audience in a very different way that the former. That she was still wearing her stage costume only served to accentuate the contrast.

"The precautions you took were woefully insufficient. Your accomplice, the one who worked under Nakimoto Rizou, has already been arrested."

"!?"

This time, she didn't need to read the silence. The shock was palpable.

"Don't worry. I don't think you'll see him ever again, but your fate will be the same. Forty-six disappearances over an eight years period. No matter the country we hand you to, you won't be able to escape a lifetime sentence."

"You can't do anything to me."

The voice still had more confidence than it should. It was shaken, yes, but not to the extent of losing all its composure.

"You don't even take the most basic of measures, so what did you expect? You should at least have confiscated everything I had with me. I've had my best weapon with me all along."

"?"

"Construction is not the only camp where rare elements are employed. At least not in Academy City. They are also used in several alloys for a variety of purposes. For example, taking Gadolinium as a base, and using its ductility as the starting point, other metals and then added in, and you obtain completely functional wires. It is not the most used combination, as there are other that are cheaper and more resistant to tension, but a very viable option nonetheless. After that, it is only a matter of thinning the wires down, making them smooth and comfortable to hold, painting them and grafting them together. What do you think I asked to be made with such a product?"

"It can't be…"

"Yes."

The young girl applied force to her fingers and tore the strand of hair she had been playing with. No, not of hair, but of wig. Holding it like one would a whip, she brandished it forward. The moment the tip touched the crystal, her eyes seemed to shine for a moment, lighting her pink contacts and giving her face an ominous glint.

The resulting explosion threw her slightly off-balance, but she had been expecting it and she did not lose her footing. Strangely, her hand was not burnt despite holding what was essentially a bomb.

Earth Pallete, her ability, was incredibly powerful, but it also had drawbacks. Her explosions could hurt her as much as the intended target. This was not a problem when she was riding her mech, and was also the reason why she used wires to cause the detonations.

This time, her weapon was held in hand. In order to be usable in real combat, the alloy she spoke of had only been incorporated in the last quarter of the strand or so, with the rest being similar to her usual wires. As such, only the part further from her actually exploded, giving her a safety distance. Also, she could control both the intensity and the direction of the explosion, keeping herself safe.

Throwing the remaining useless part of the strand, she reached to her hair for one more as she walked past the now broken crystal. She jumped from the stage down to the level of the public seats, and approached the silhouette. When she reached close enough that she could make out its features, though, she stopped and shook her head.

"I thought it was strange that you didn't try to run away after I revealed my weapon, but I guess it's as expected." She sighed as she eyed the featureless mannequin that sat in the first row. "With all the money you have shown to have at your disposal, you still chose something so simple to represent you. Is this your way of mocking us?"

"You are not Arisa Meigo. Academy City sent you, didn't they?"

"There's no reason why one can't be both a fighter and a singer. I am the genuine Meigo Arisa, as I am Shutaura Sequenzia. But you are right in assuming that I was sent here for your capture."

Turning around, she eyed the stage, from the spectator level this time. The letters that she could barely make out before on top of each entrance were now in full display from her new position.

"Isidora Contreras. Anna Hämäläinen. Those are only two of a list of forty-six women who had vanished during the last eight years. They all were of different age, nationality, background, ethnic, and race, but they all shared something: talent for singing. Some of them only did it in private, other pursued professional careers, but none were so famous that their disappearance would cause huge public reaction."

"…"

"If that was the extent of what you did, then you would have had a chance to escape unnoticed. For the people in power, you were nothing they had to bother to deal with. But then you got in contact with Academy City. Simply speaking, you were greedy, and your successes emboldened you to take risks that you had avoided until now. Needless to say, you were noticed from the very beginning."

"!"

Somehow, she was able to pick up on the faint shock that permeated the atmosphere for a short second, and she laughed.

"What? Did you believe you could barge in as if you owned the place? Every communication with the exterior is monitored closely, and that goes triple with those with ties to the directors. Your standing changed from be nothing to minor annoyance, and so it was decided that you should be removed. I just happened to be your target, and I took the chance to volunteer. This line of work is also my specialty."

As she talked, she paced to the right. No matter how big, the hall had to be sustained on walls. If she walked for long enough in a single direction she was bound to arrive at one, and if she was lucky enough, she would then find an exit.

"We were given white card, so we had to come up with a plan. The primary objective was to arrest you and collect evidence of your wrongdoings, but I personally wanted to rescue all the other women. So I threw myself as bait.

I didn't really know what to expect. I couldn't really think of the reason why you'd kidnap so many women, besides the fact that you liked music. I initially thought that maybe you were a pervert who was trying to fulfill his fetish.

I was wrong. I could see it the moment I woke up.

You're just a narcissist with delusions of grandeur."

The wall was not in sight yet, but the names were no longer to her side. Instead, vacant rooms were what she could see on the stage now, yet to be occupied by new singers. She grimaced. New cells for new captives.

She made a gesture encompassing her surroundings.

"The stage. The pointlessly large hall. The scheduled periodic auditions. The treatment. And most of all the stupid and pretentious name of "The Spectator"."

"What do you mean with that?"

Ah, that made him angry. She could detect some irritation behind his voice. Mostly, the fact he answered when he had been trying to keep silent before was the biggest telltale.

She continued, unperturbed.

"It's nothing new. You are of the opinion that you are the only one who truly understands our art, that you alone can appreciate what we do. You believe yourself special and unique, and you think that entitles you to take us away from our families, friends, and our whole world in a self-righteous crusade."

"The Snow Songstress sang in a third-rate theatre. Less than fifty people went to her first show. The Chilean Mockingbird was even worse. She had even performed yet. Talent must be cultivated since young. At the rate she was going, her potential would have gone to waste."

"What about me, then? Over 100.000 people came to my last concert."

"Ha. What do they know? The masses who can't distinguish a major chord from a minor one have no idea just how high is the talent they're looking at. Just like the fans who simple-mindedly cheer in a soccer game, it isn't possible to compare them with the experts who can see the intricacies, tactics and training that went behind the whole play. They are not worth mentioning."

"Hah. I see."

During his tirade, she had not stopped once. She could see the wall now, or rather, a surface where the shadows ended.

"So you do understand? For the young, I grant the best environment to learn and practice. For the unrecognized, I gift the grandest of the stages. And for the lauded by the uncultured, I award the acknowledgment you deserve. I won't go as far as call myself a savior, but-"

"That's not it." interrupted the pink-haired girl, finally reaching the wall. "That's not what I meant. Three different sets of circumstances, and three different explanations that justify what you're doing. No matter what I say, you will just craft yourself a convenient explanation to present yourself as righteous. There's no point in arguing with you."

"I don't like what you are implying, miss. Are you perhaps saying that they're less happy here that they were back then? You have only been here for five days, so you don't yet know all I have to offer, but I thought that the glimpse that you caught would be enough to let you understand."

The irritation had given way to annoyance. Arisa brushed her hands against the smooth surface, trying to feel some protrusion or indentation that could indicate that a door was there, but for the moment she came up with nothing. Her expression had not changed.

"That's not the problem. Everybody should have the chance to make the choice of what they want to dedicate their lives to. It's their call to make, not yours. There is also meaning in struggling to make others acknowledge you. You took away their freedom and their life without permission. If you just asked, maybe one of them would have agreed to sign a contract with you. If you had offered, perhaps one of them would have accepted a music scholarship in a random institution you could have invested in. The same result, different methods." Her hands paused for a moment. "Not that I would ever work for you, much less sing. You don't understand what the essence of music is. At all."

"…What?" Now the voice sounded outright outraged. She had just slammed a fist into the most sensible spot, after all. "What do you know, woman?! You have no idea-!"

"Music" she raised her voice, "is sharing! I have the right to decide who I sing to. As do all of the other people you took from their public. And all of us had decided to sing for everyone! Some of them professionally, some of them in private. It doesn't matter. That was our pride. To see other people enjoy that what we love most doing was our greatest joy! How can someone who doesn't get something so basic claim to know what music is?!"

She took a deep breath to calm herself and resumed what she was doing, but soon gave up. It appeared she was truly trapped. Her tone of voice became even once again.

"No, that's only a façade that you constructed. Your true purpose was much simpler. You didn't even bother to come in person to the grand debut of one whom you claimed had outstanding talent. And that's only one of many things you would have handled differently if you truly enjoyed music. Starting with the mannequin down there, there has never been any interaction between you and any of the people you "saved", right?"

Using an alter ego, concealing his name, speaking through a glass panel, the number of people she had seen face to face since coming here was zero. However, what was abnormal was that he seemed to go out of his way to make sure that was so. Wouldn't it be easier to hire a waiter than to build an intricate system just so she could get a tray of food? Would it not be simpler to build a bowling lane and invite whoever wanted to go, instead of building it _in_ the room? There were options that were much more economic and easier to realize.

Why, then, hadn't he done so? Arisa raised her eyes towards the darkness and spoke, as if she were looking her invisible interlocutor in the eye.

"You just wanted something to look at, didn't you? Just as a kid watches excited an ant farm, so you wanted to look at us and how we would react."

The lack of silence was all the answer she expected. Maybe he already knew it, or maybe he was just realizing. It didn't matter. She took some steps away from the wall.

"By the way, I'm a little mad that you insulted my fans. It is thanks to their support that I made it as far as I did. I know the names of some who come to every concert, and I'm grateful to all of them. It doesn't matter if they know musical theory or not. That's not a factor that determines whether you can enjoy a song. So I'll have to hand you retribution in their regard."

And just like that, the wall she was standing next to collapsed, and crumbled. The light of the sun entered from the exterior and illuminated the empty auditorium. Peering outside, she could see black mechs resembling spiders, lined in blue, working to expand the now considerably big hole they had created.

One of them opened and a man with light brown hair descended. He ran to the front of the girl and saluted.

"Captain! Reporting. Crows 1 to 4 have already surrounded the target and are closing in. As instructed, the rest of the squadron has come to assist with the rescue."

"Good job. The kidnapped ones should be inside. There's reinforced glass separating this space form their rooms, so bring one of the mechs inside to break it. Also, try not to scare them."

"Captain." With a nod, the man took off with his orders. Soon after, one of the mechs entered inside, followed closely by several black-clothed men.

"How?" sounded the voice again. The speakers must have been somewhere other than the poor wall, because it was by now completely destroyed. "This place is isolated and cut off with Academy City's own technology! It should have been impossible for you to find me!"

Arisa didn't answer. The wave disruptors, frequencies blockers, and other such trinkets were indeed made with the City's technology, yes, but only on the level of the cooperative institutions. The City would never have allowed top-of-the-line military equipment like that outside its walls. The ones that the cooperative institutions received were outdated and, while certainly better than the rest of the world's, they couldn't compare with the real thing.

It gave them a bit of trouble though, according to her men. It seems that, as this was a mission outside, they also had restrictions, and while she had a transmitter hidden in the wig, it took a bit of time for their instruments to detect the place where the mastermind was hiding. It was a good thing he had maintained an open channel for the conversation with her all the time, which had significantly aided them in discovering his position. If he had closed off everything and fled the moment she blew the crystal, he may have escaped. All in all, the man was truly a fool.

A wordless scream of fury, accompanied by some explosions, were the last sounds that were heard through the speakers before the line went dead.

Shutaura sighed and entered her own, bigger mech, that had followed unmanned the rest of her men's. Once inside, she took off her idol clothes and changed into her tight-fitting bodysuit, as those were more appropriate for work.

She was preparing to exit once again to go personally supervise the handling of the rescued civilians, when another of his men sent her a transmission.

"Captain, while you were inside, we got news regarding the matter that you asked us to monitor."

"Oh?"

She opened the attached file and followed the link to an external website. It was a thread in one of the pages to discuss the game. She rubbed her wrist absentmindedly, reminding herself to retake her own device from wherever her captors had left it, while she skimmed through the posts. Meanwhile, her subordinate summarized their findings.

"It's one of the numerous minor forums on the net that popped up to discuss the game. Its main language is English, but it has user from across the globe. This thread was created recently, a couple days ago, the day of the "Challenge", by one of the people who started in the Desert Kingdom but who were not from Academy City. Any news that came from that region the day of the event gathered quite a bit of attraction, but after the initial response the post was dismissed as nonsense and the thread closed."

She nodded a hum of acknowledgment as she dismissed several insulting or mocking answers and centered herself on the opening story. Apparently, the poster was walking in the forest by himself, hunting goblins, when he heard a sound. The moment he raised his head, he saw a person flying overhead at ridiculous speed. He was so fast that he could only distinguish the colors of his robes, marking him as a player, and a mop of black that he supposed was his hair. The only reason he could determine the person was a boy was that the echo of the voice that cried "such misfortune" was indubitably male.

All alone inside her vehicle, a smile that would have suited more Arisa, the idol; rather than Shutaura, the soldier; formed on her face, but strangely enough, it didn't appear out-of-place, and the brightness that brought with it illuminated and gave a sense of charm to the previously stern-faced agent.

"I found you, Touma-kun!"

* * *

 **And until here. I quite enjoy writing about different characters, but as I said, it took way more time than I expected. I guess I can only experiment to see which ones are easier and harder to write. Next chapter it's back to Touma.**

 **On another note, my version of Kamijou was not chosen to appear in Itherael's fanfic A New ROAD of Misfortune. It wasn't even considered. I guess my Touma is so well writen and similar to the original that it wasn't necessary. ...Oh, who am I kidding. I guess I am not yet established enough in the Touma-world. I'm not sulking. Seriously.**

 **Maybe we could create some kinda community for authors to discuss these kind of things. It would also make it easier to get permission to borrow characters. We could also debate on things like the Raildex conspiracy, Mr. ? true face, maybe throw a couple of jabs at the impatient readers (yes, I'm talking about you, "new chapters pleaseeeeee" Guest, love ya), and other highly philosophical topics of interest. We'll see.**

 **See ya!**

* * *

 **OMAKE**

A while later, Shutaura found herself reassuring some of the youngest girls, when she received another transmission.

"Captain, there's an oddity. There were supposed to be 46 victims, but we have found an extra one. Also, the nickname at the top of the door doesn't match with any on the list that we had gathered. Furthermore, upon forcing our entry we discovered that there wasn't only a woman there as was the case with all the other ones. There was also a man."

She furrowed her brows.

"What's the title?"

" _Milanese Nightingale_."

"It doesn't sound familiar to me. So, what's the problem?"

If it was only something on that level, her men were more than competent enough to handle it. It could have been a simple error, they might have missed someone. No matter how good they were, everybody made mistakes.

"Yes. We have also found two other men, one quite young and the other older, who claimed to have infiltrated in order to save the previous woman."

"What?"

She blanched. Only people from Academy City, or at the very least from the cooperative institutions, could have possibly found this place. But the higher-ups hadn't sent her any other notice of a joint operation, or of another team working on the same case. What in the world…

"For the time being, we let the two parties met. If they are telling the truth, they should recognize each other. Based on that, we-"

He couldn't conclude the report.

"Ooooh! Captain Bedsock! And Tintin! What a pleasure to see you again!"

"Haddock, lady, Haddock! We navigated ten thousand miles to come get you from this blasted place, and you still can't remember my name!"

"Oh silly me, please forgive me, Mister Harrock. And what's this you say! You came to save us? My! We must celebrate. I will sing a song to express my happiness! Wagner!"

"Yes, milady."

" _Ah! My beauty past compare! These jewels bright I wear!_ "

"Crow leader," the soldier tried to get back on track as calmly as he could, but the impression was a little lost because he had to shout to make himself heard over the voice, "it seems that they know each other. What would be the best cour- AHH!"

"Snowy! Where had you gone? Let go of the nice man! It doesn't matter that he wears all in black, he's one of the good guys!"

"Rapscallions and turncoats! Haddock! Why is it so difficult to understand?!"

" _WAS I EVER MARGARITAAAAAA?_ "

Shutaura, very calmly, very professionally, cut the transmission off.


	15. Chapter 14 - Request

**Hey there!**

 **I don't have anything interesting to talk about this time. Just hoping you are all doing well and little else.**

 **So, onto the comments!**

 **Guest: Oh, I get it now. _Sono gensou_** ** _wo buchi korosu_ , or however it's written, right?**

 **About the reason why the Spectator said that the girl was not Meigo Arisa: I thought it might be a bit confusing, so I'm glad someone asked. Basically, the guy knew that Meigo Arisa=Shutaura Sequenzia, where one is a real name and the other the stage one. The first time he called her Shutaura was to let her know that he knew (man, I sound like TV Tropes) and to put pressure on her. He also assumed that the girl that goes by both names doesn't know how to fight. So, when she is revealed to be a capable combatant, he mistakenly believes that she is not Meigo Arisa, and by extension neither is she Shutaura Sequenzia. For us readers and viewers, we know the two personalities as distinct characters with different talents, that later on just happened to merge. But for the general public in-story, the only famous side is the idol that goes by the name of Arisa, whose true name is Shutaura. To give an example, if we saw Mr. Bean in the street, we would know he is "Mr. Bean" as well as "Rowan Atkinson". What'd happen if he suddenly did a double backflip? You don't assume he is an actor _and_ a gymnast. You assume a gymnast is supplanting him.**

 **I feel the explanation went a bit on a tangent, but I hope it is more understandable now. Oh, right. Every time you offer me your grammar corrections, I compare them with what I have. I usually change the typos pretty fast, but some other expressions I consider more, as sometimes they're not incorrect. That's not to say that yours are wrong, either, but oftentimes, a slightly incorrect or more colloquial expression better expresses what I wish to convey. On that note, let me give you an example. _Smelt_ is not actually wrong. It's the past of the verb _smell. Smell_ itself accepts the two conjugations, both regular and irregular, so either _smelled_ or _smelt_ are correct. But - and here's the fun part - when I checked it turned out that in American English, only _smelled_ is used, and this tendency is extended to the point that sometimes _smelt_ is considered to be wrong, when it's actually not. In contrast, in British English, both forms are used in equal measure, more or less. Isn't language interesting? I love these tidbits of information.**

 **Well, that was kinda long. When I say I answer comments, that's not completely accurate. I answer the questions that are asked in the comments. However, know that I read each and every single one of them, and I am truly grateful to everyone who showed their support.**

 **With everything said, I hope you enjoy the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 14 – Request

Kamijou closed the door of his flat and prepared to go to school. It had been a busy morning so far. After feeding Index and the calico cat, he had blackmailed Othinus not to kill anyone in town if she played the game during the day by threatening to create a scaffold for Sphinx to climb to her dwelling's level. After that he had prepared his books and lunch in a hurry, before he was finally able to leave.

"Morning, Kami-yan!"

The next door also swung open, and Tsuchimikado stepped out with a cheerful greeting. Giving back an acknowledging nod, the two teens proceed to go down the stairs and headed to the streets.

"So, Kami-yan! What are your thoughts on yesterday's Challenge?"

"What's there to say? I was stranded in the labyrinth for a couple hours, and before I knew it I was back to town. Loss of time if you ask me."

He was obviously going to pretend that he knew nothing. Claiming that he was the winner would only attract more trouble than it was worth, not to mention that he didn't even have anything to show for it. And he obviously couldn't go around talking about Magic Gods.

"I wasn't asking about that. You were late, so I was wondering if you had some kind of plan to avoid Fukiyose's wrath. Even more so when I tell her that you just confessed to going to the Pyramid later, which means that you don't even have a good excuse."

"Of course he wouldn't do that! He isn't even trying to run away. I'm proud of you, Kami-yan! You're such a man!"

Aogami's sudden arrival only made Kamijou's growingly pale face even whiter.

"Shut up! Tsuchimikado, if you tell her, I swear I'll…"

"You'll what? Nora-chan is not enough for you, so you planned to raise affection points with another priestess? Is that it? Do you think we'll let something like that slide by without handing you divine retribution?!"

"Hahahaha! I admire your efforts towards the harem path, Kami-yan! But they say that what you don't fight for you don't value! I will help you by throwing more obstacles in your way!"

"You idiots only want to have fun! Just keep your mouths shut!"

Naturally, their shouting attracted plenty of attention from onlookers. Some of the adults going to work just dismissed them, seeing as it was just boys having fun on the way to school. Other students that were using the same route to go to their own institutes and were used to them and their antics smiled, or gave them a cursory glance before making haste to their destinations.

The three boys, however, noticed a particular large group of people that didn't fit either of the two categories. It was majorly composed of young people their own age, who were gawking around and gaping at a variety of things. The monorails in the distance, the eolic turbines, and specially the cleaning robots were what attracted the most attention. Some of them had noticed the commotion they were making and were watching them, but when the trio looked their way in turn, they quickly broke eye contact.

At the front and the back of the group, two adults were keeping watch and answering the occasional questions of the teenagers.

Touma felt curious, so he asked his friends.

"Who're they?"

"See the identification hanging from their necks?"

Tsuchimikado, as well-informed as always, was quick to respond and point to the white rectangle of paper that fluttered in the chests of the boys. Seeing both Kamijou and Aogami nod, the blond spy continued his explanation.

"They're visitors. They're not from the City, but they felt interested enough to consider transferring schools here. However, they're not completely sure if it's worth it, so they are checking things out first." He pointed to their necks again. "Those things are like a visitor's pass, but they receive a bit more freedom than the people of the Daihaseisai. They can go to a school and, if the principal agrees, they'll be given a simple tour of the installations." He shrugged. "Must be their first day around. If they have to come, it's in the City's best interests to showcase the best facilities, so they go to more successful schools. A zone with plenty of Level 0s is not good publicity. They're probably going to let them tour the City as a whole on their first day, putting special emphasis on the zones with more acceptable schools, and let them roam freely the rest of the time."

Kamijou nodded, agreeing. He and his friend all lived in District 7, as it was the city's major school district, but the conditions of his high school and the high class ones were as different as night and day. Still, he doubted the visitors would be allowed to visit some of the really top schools, such as Tokiwadai or Nagatenjouki. The truly elite ones guarded many secrets and resources that the higher brass would no doubt consider too important to showcase.

Shaking his head, he turned around and kept walking, starting to strategize the best plan to make Fukiyose forgive him fast enough that he wouldn't need to become a corpse.

He didn't notice that, among the group of excited outsider teens, someone kept glancing in his direction.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, after classes ended, Kamijou bought food for dinner and next morning's breakfast and returned home. Upon arriving, he had a quick snack and connected to the game. Othinus tagged along.

Index had become fast fascinated by the game and had been playing the majority of the mornings, as she had nothing else to do and it was less dangerous and strenuous than walking outside. Plus, she didn't feel the hunger inside! Today as well, she was playing when Touma arrived.

Once they logged in, both boy and god made a beeline for the shrine. Even if being late the day before was not _technically_ his fault, he was the one responsible for the actions of his charge, so he was going to take the responsibility and apologize in person.

When they reached the church, they quickly noticed that there were less people than usual. It had gotten to the point where two of the novices were enough to handle everyone who came with time to spare.

It made sense, thought Kamijou. After the boom of the first days, the number of new participants would probably decrease and stabilize. That's not to say that new players wouldn't join, but the first wave was usually the largest, so the members of the Church in charge of doing the rite would probably have an easier time from then on.

That could be seen even now. While two of the girls were tending to the cues, three more were chatting amicably at one side, without much work to do.

By chance, one of the girls who were busy at the moment happened to be Nora. She also saw them arrive from a distance, and so did Lily, who was her companion in her work. The silver-haired priestess-in-training had a quick word with her friend, and then the two lines merged into one, leaving the other novice free.

By the time the boy and the goddess reached the group, Nora had already gone to meet with the other trio of idle teens.

"Yo!"

"Humph!"

Kamijou raised a hand in salute. In response, Nora turned her head to the side and puffed her cheek, while the other three stepped aside and started to whisper among themselves.

"It's here at last! Fufu. I've been waiting for this! The first quarrel in their relationship!"

"Kaya-chan, it's not even been a month since they met, right? And they aren't dating or anything of the sort, are they? That can be hardly called a relationship."

"Lena-san, don't you believe in love at first sight? If the red string of fate is knit, then it doesn't matter for how long they have known each other! So! Alex, you were the one in charge when he finally swung by, weren't you? Any ideas why he was late?"

"Well… Not really, but if I had to guess I'd say it had something to do with that blonde over there. Remember what I explained to you, when she appeared suddenly in the desert and took care of all the people who tried to attack us? Before that moment, she was not with the rest of the participants of my group, but the doll on his shoulder looked exactly like her. Also, when I checked on him while we walked, he was at the end of the procession. I thought he was talking alone, but now I believe he was chatting with the doll. So maybe something happened before he arrived that forced the blonde to become a miniature."

"Hohohohoho! So it turns out that the reason he was late was because he was spending time with _another_ girl! This is getting better by the second!"

"Hey, hey. Kaya-chan, shouldn't you be questioning how can a magic that allows you to change your body size exist before worrying about… Oh, my. You aren't listening anymore."

Lena brought a hand to her cheek and sighed, while Alex chuckled. Kaya's eyes were radiating stars as she watched excitedly over the proceedings.

Kamijou, meanwhile, had been faced with Nora's obvious angry mood. Betraying the expectations of most of the female camp, he did not apologize or made an excuse. Instead, he leaned back a bit, crossed an arm and brought the other hand to his chin, adopting a contemplative stance. After spending a little while deliberating, he nodded.

"Good. Very good. Honestly speaking, I wasn't sure if you'd go with the Ice Queen's "I'm sorry, who might you be? + cold aura" combo or the more classic "Don't talk to me!" rebuke to show your anger, but you ended up choosing a third option with an adorable pout. Nice. It actually suits your character more, so it turned out to be the cutest option. Good job."

"Cu-Cutest…!"

"Oho."

Nora's face flushed red, and Kaya began her analysis.

"Very impressive. Nora is usually weak to praise, so saying something like that was bound to make her lose her composure. Even though the compliment was kind of weird."

The commentator was far enough that neither of the two could hear them, so Kamijou spoke with a serious expression.

"Actually, I wanted to apologize for being late. Something came out and I had to take care of it, and when I realized it was already past the meeting time. Alex told me you wanted to go with everyone, so someone missing probably ruined the mood a bit. Sorry about that."

And with that, he bowed his head, making the already flushing Nora start panicking a bit.

"Ah… No… I-It's okay! I know that it must have been something important. I-It couldn't be helped."

"Very impressive."

Alex watched with a wry smile and Lena laughed nervously, but Master of Ceremonies Kaya was on a rampage.

"After he throws out her composure, he strikes immediately afterwards, making her forgive him in the confusion. The drama I was looking forward to was shut down in two paragraphs. I can only stand in awe at such skill. What a mastery of the female heart. Alex, you better be careful. Nora is already like this with just a few visits, and you got to spend two whole hours plus a life-and-death event with him. You might just fall for him too before you realize."

She was going to add something else, but was stopped when she felt an intense gaze coming from afar. Looking around, she realized it came from the eyepatch girl that had arrived together with the boy. Given that they were whispering, she was too far to hear the conversation, so she wondered what had she done to warrant her attention.

Unaware of the exchange on the sidelines, the misfortunate boy and the priestess-in-training's conversation continued unperturbed.

"Actually, it wasn't all that serious a matter. I just had to stop a senseless girl from causing trouble."

He shot a reproving glance a Othinus, who nonchalantly averted her gaze. She didn't even bother to look repentant. By chance, Helen was just coming out of the church in time to hear the last part of the exchange, and when she saw who exactly was it that the boy's gaze was pointing at, she started to pale and swear buckets, having an idea of what kind of tragedy the boy had most likely prevented. The goddess caught her change in expressions and gave her an amused smirk. That smile, however, froze on her face shortly after.

" _But it's fine now. That won't happen again._ "

Even though Imagine Breaker should prevent anything supernatural from occurring. Even though they were in a virtual world. Even though it was impossible. Even still, all the people gathered could distinctly feel some cold feeling emanating from the youth named Kamijou Touma.

" _Isn't that right, Othinus-san? Ufufu."_

"?!" (Lena)

" _-san_?!" (Othinus)

"¡!" (Alex)

" _Ufufu_?!" (Kaya)

"Scary! Kamijou-san, your laughter is very scary! It's okay, I'll forgive you for everything! It was not your fault, so please stop acting out of character!" (Nora)

As sudden as it came, the dark aura that seemed to have enveloped the area vanished completely, only leaving behind as proof that it was not a dream several shivering girls.

"Well, thanks for understanding. I'll make sure to keep her behavior under control. Geez, sometimes I wonder who's the one more troublesome to take care of, Index or her…"

Othinus didn't sulk, because gods didn't sulk. It was undignified. She merely expressed her indignation with being compared to a gluttonous nun with a childish personality by moving her gaze to the side and crossing her arms.

After having witnessed the whole interaction, Helen sunk into her thoughts.

(I wondered just how exactly he was fit to be a goddess' equal. Apart from his strange hand that can negate blessings, there didn't seem to be that much about him. However, that terrifying intent…)

(It's inherited, I believe. From his mother.)

(!?)

There was no doubt as to whom the voice that suddenly sounded in her mind belonged. She raised her head to look in the direction of the blonde girl, but upon meeting her green eye, the priestess lowered her head frantically. Her musings were interrupted when the last of the novices exited the church from the entrance just behind her.

"Helen-sama? Is something the matter?"

Turning around to smile at her, Helen smiled and shook her head to regain her composure. There were things she could do nothing about, and there were duties she had to attend to. She took a deep breath and approached the boy who was now amicably chatting with Nora, who giggled from time to time. It was admirable the facility with which he had managed to make her sulkiness pass.

"Young man."

"Oh, hi. I didn't see you."

"Ah, Helen-sama."

Both teens turned at the sound of her voice. Touma gave a carefree salute, Nora bowed her head.

There was no point in delaying, so she cut straight to the chase.

"It's good to see you healthy. There's something I'd like to ask you. I heard that you participated in the Challenge yesterday, is that right?"

"Huh? Ah, yes."

He scratched his cheek, a bit startled at the sudden inquisition.

"I see. Were you the winner?"

"Ah? Well, err…"

The other novices, seeing that their superior had come, came over to give their greetings, except Lily who was still in charge of the line. Kamijou nodded at them in salute, but then reflected on the question and seemed to hesitate. He turned his head and stole a glance at the blonde girl that followed him, wordlessly asking for advice, and she shrugged her shoulders.

The message couldn't have been any clearer in Helen's eyes.

"I see. That is most admirable, though I was somehow expecting it."

"Eh, really?"

"No way!"

The other girls may not have known about the meaning of the glance, but they certainly understood Helen's words. Kaya's eyes became as starry as a certain Level 5's, Lena brought a hand to her mouth, and Alex whistled in admiration.

"No, well… By chance, my friend over there had a good compatibility with the trial, so…"

"Oh. So you were lucky?"

He gave her an odd look.

"That's… right. I was… lucky."

Nora's question was innocent, so she didn't understand why he suddenly smiled bitterly, nor the reason why the eyepatch girl was stifling a giggle.

At that moment, the last novice moved towards them.

"If that is the case, Helen-sama, should I proceed as we had discussed?"

"Yes, I feel that would be the most appropriate course of action."

"I understand."

With her head high, she walked in front on him, her twin rolls moving side to side with each step.

"I think you might have heard my name from my friends, but I do not believe we have been formally introduced yet. My name is Henrietta Stian, eldest daughter of Gregory Stian, the Governor of this town."

Touma had no idea how she did it, because the tunic she wore as part of her religious clothes wasn't exactly very wide, but she still managed to give a bow while picking its hems and extending them side to side. The stereotypical image of a noble lady.

"And," she added, "in the name of my father, I would like to invite you to pay a visit unto our home-desuwa."

* * *

A bit later, Kamijou and Othinus found themselves trailing behind Henrietta and Helen towards and increasingly large mansion, that couldn't be anything else than the ruler of the city's residence, if only by sheer immensity compared to the rest of the town. The only other two places that he had seen that were comparable in size were the Guild and the Church itself, which made sense when he thought about it. They probably represented the political, military and religious power, respectively, though the true power distribution was probably much more complex. For starters, Golden Rolls herself spent a lot of time in the shrine on a daily basis. The Governor probably had some kind of personal force too, and there were also the guards at the entrances, so the hunters shouldn't be the only people who could fight.

They were heading there because not only had the young girl insisted on it, Helen herself had also asked him to go. He was the winner of the contest that the Goddess herself had created, so he was naturally important to the whole kingdom in both a religious and a political level.

It made sense, and he had nothing else to do anyway, so he had agreed. Besides, meeting the ruler of the town you started in was probably some kind of important event in the game, and furthermore he was probably going to be the very first player who accomplished it, so he was a little excited.

Othinus, who was walking at his side, peered at him.

"Hey, human."

"What is it, Othinus-kun?"

"What is wrong with you and suffixes today?"

"It isn't a bad thing, is it? –san and –kun are both actually in the middle in terms of closeness and respect. I think it flows better than Kami-sama or Othi-chan, but what do you think?"

"I think we were long past the point of caring. Also, if you call me Othi-chan again, I'll infiltrate your school bag and show myself to the rest of your class at the most inappropriate time."

"What's this? You just said we were past the point of caring, but you are still creating new hells. I thought we had already overcome the reconciliation part."

"We did. Right now I'm only doing it as a stress reliever."

"Then how come I'm always the one who gets to suffer? Such misfortune. So? What did you want?"

"Are you saying you're not an M? After you purposely continued to throw yourself into hell after hell? …Anyway, your face's been frozen since you talked with that other girl. Is being invited into a blonde lady's home that much of a deal? Considering you live with _me_? Hmm?"

"…ter."

"Just now I had to amplify my hearing with magic to hear what I did, but since I'm not sure what that meant, and that's saying something since I'm a deity of knowledge, I'll ask you again. What was that?"

"It's a desuwa character! Hahahaha! I can't believe it! Aogami was right! That pervert was actually right! Hahaha! Not only has she blonde rolls and good manners, she also speaks with desuwa! A true ojou!"

"…After all we've been through, you still manage to surprise me, human. What's so impressive about that?"

"I'm happy, that's all. The only ojou I know is always shouting and throwing lightning and temper tantrums my way, so getting to see that the true ladies act like I thought feels like some kind of revelation."

* * *

At that moment, Misaka Mikoto felt the urge to zap a porcupine.

She sighed, put on her best smile, and continued to drink tea and chat with her classmates.

* * *

"Let's leave aside your hormone-ridden stereotypes about how people should act for a second." Othinus' voice gained a serious undertone. "You realize what'll happen if we get to that mansion, right?"

"We'll talk with the Governor?"

"Not the result, fool. The reason." Her green eye was now analyzing each expression he made, waiting to see how would he react. "The one who got you this opportunity was Nephthys. Are you okay with gaining such advantages because of the intervention of a Magic God?"

It was a delicate question. The reason why he had gotten into a conflict with the true Gremlin in the first place was precisely that he rejected the help he had been offered. He had rejected the opportunity to become the ruler of the world with all the power of several Magic Gods at his disposal, while retaining his perspective as a puny human, which would have allowed him to bring happiness to the world. And of course, personal power as a side benefit.

Right now, he had been offered benefits from another individual who loftily looked down from above. Sure, a mere meeting didn't actually guarantee a direct reward (in a game, that'd be a weapon, skill or secret mission most of the time, or maybe a Title in this case), but it still put him above his peers in terms of accomplishments. Wasn't this exactly what he had refused in the first place?

But…

Kamijou Touma didn't pause to think about it. He didn't even slow down his pace.

"Wasn't that just a game event? Well, I guess this is more like a favor from a friend than a god just handing down power on a whim. This feels a lot like having a GM as your buddy. Wait, hold on. Is this actually a light novel development? Am I going to get some kind "Congratulations! You are the first player to enter this location in your region!"-Title and be forced to accept an extra-difficult rank SSS mission to slay a dragon or retrieve a holy grail? Don't joke with me."

"I don't really understand. Aren't those good things?"

"Fukiyose pummeled me 17 times over today because I was late once. How long would it take to actually go and complete that? What if there's some other meeting and I can't go because I'm trapped in some labyrinth? I'd have higher chances of surviving if I didn't feed Index for a week and she went feral."

He was so carefree.

Othinus didn't say anything else. She just looked forward and continued to walk, slowing down her pace down an instant so that she was slightly behind him.

Otherwise, he might have noticed the gleam that passed through her bright eye.

It was still possible that he might have not noticed, but she had an inkling that the boy knew that the Challenge was all a ruse so the brown-skinned deity could meet him. At the very last, he had his suspicions for sure. Despite what the world may claim, he wasn't an idiot.

Therefore, all that derived from that encounter was actually granted to him from the goodwill of a Goddess.

When the High Priest first made his offer, he had rejected it. Decisively. Doubtlessly. Categorically.

However, he was accepting that same kind of help now, without questioning it.

What had changed?

First, the god who granted the favor. It was not an unknown like Gremlin or their representative the High Priest, but an acquaintance he had welcomed into his home and fought for.

The scale too was vastly different. The power to rule the world and destiny could hardly compare with a small advantage in a game.

And most importantly, the awareness of the boy himself differed. The place they were standing on was not reality. What he did here would not have lasting consequences that would impact his real life beyond what he did in a normal MMMORPG.

But, even with all that, the fact was that he was still accepting something that he had so adamantly refused before.

She had been relatively assured, but it was always good to have confirmation. So long as she kept the scale small enough, in this world, the boy would not reject any help, even if it came from a Magic God.

That meant that she was free to influence, manipulate and shape his surroundings in the way she deemed most fit for his progress, and he would not question it if good things happened to him out of nowhere. It was a game, after all. It couldn't be influenced by his misfortune too much. Sometimes one could stumble on a boss monster, but for it to be fun and balanced one had to find treasure chests too from time to time.

Othinus wondered if that was why he liked videogames in the first place. Even if he had horrendous luck, while he was playing everything had to be inside the limits the software delimited. The mobs may always score critical hits and the bosses may always use the wide area attack, but for a good player it was all manageable.

As she walked just behind the boy, the blond girl with the eyepatch gazed at his back. Kamijou Touma may be the understander of Othinus, but he only knew her as a girl. Her side as a Magic God was still a mystery. It was probable that only a Magic God could understand another one.

Magic Gods were masses of power without a purpose, beings who were satisfied with just bringing about their version of happiness to the world. They didn't fight, and they didn't bother with the masses of living creatures who lived in the world. They didn't have a reason to. After all, they could create something big enough to be called the world, modify the past, present and the future as they saw fit, and create money, status or fame with the snap of a finger, so what use was fighting?

What would happen, then, if one of those omnipotent beings desired something? What would happen if they gained some kind of drive?

Once upon a time, a girl had desired to go home. The whole world had been dragged to war in her quest.

Now, that same girl had a new purpose. It didn't matter if it was only secondary to her main one of enjoying her new chance at life at the side of the one who understood her. It also didn't matter if it was something trivial like a game.

For the sake of that purpose, she had made the boy accept something that he hadn't been willing to do before. The same boy who had unrelentingly stood time and again against everything that was thrown at him, from hell to the military might of the whole world. She had skimmed past such unwavering beliefs and accomplished what the true Gremlin could not.

Othinus had her power as a Magic God stolen, so she had been forced to rely on violence to accomplish her goals. Since she had been reduced to a level that mortals could take on, she had answered in kind and retaliated with strategies and tactics.

In a way, the willingness to study her opponents -who were too puny for the standard Magic Gods to take any interest on- made her an oddity or, as Gremlin thought, too green.

However, that had been what made her able to led the world by the nose, perfectly accomplish her objective against the storm of opposition that arose all around her and, however brief, made Kamijou Touma lose hope.

So, in a way, Othinus may have been the most terrifying of all Magic Gods.

* * *

They didn't have to walk much more before they reached the mansion. The town wasn't that big to begin with, so walking for about half an hour was usually enough to reach anywhere.

It wasn't as luxurious as it might have appeared at first glance. It was made primarily of stone and wood, in line with the rest of the small city. Contrary to the Church and its strange architecture, size seemed to be the most impressive aspect of the dwelling, and they rapidly learned that it was that way for practical reasons shortly after entering.

The two clergywomen guided them across the base floor, which was full of medium-sized rooms at both sides, and congested due to the sheer amount of people who were frantically working. Men and women wearing fine clothes were walking from one area to another with documents in their arms, shouts constantly flew over their heads, and there were people discussing in both hushed whispers and loud roars in every corner, occasionally brandishing scribbled papers and forms and shoving them in the face of the opposition.

None of them, however, failed to give a respectful bow or a nod whenever Henrietta passed by them, depending on the fancifulness of their clothes, which most likely represented status.

They were led up winding stairs to a small room in the first floor, where both guides excused themselves. A maid wearing the stereotypical uniform asked if they wished for some tea, an offer that they both accepted.

When she left the room, Othinus addressed his understander, a note of displeasure in her voice.

"Human. Stop drooling."

"Yahoo! Not only the ojou, now we have the maid too! God bless virtual reality!"

"I have zero intention of blessing anything that the science side has contributed to create. Why do you care so much about a servant's clothes? They aren't event historically accurate."

"Who cares? Maika, Kumokawa and that other Saint are about the only maids I know. One's my neighbor and I met the other two in a battlefield, so this is refreshing. I haven't even gone to any maid café's yet, what's wrong with having my broken illusions restored?"

Othinus just stared at him, speechless.

"Oh, whatever. Hey, Othinus, what do you think all those people downstairs were working on?"

"From what I heard, it's like a trade center and a civil outpost all in one. It probably concentrates all of the bureaucracy of the city. There are not as many here in the first floor, though. If I had to guess, below should be the everyday stuff, and the first floor more serious matters with more priority. The study of the Governor should also be near, I don't think they'd want to meet us in his bedroom. That leaves the second floor above as a residence for the family."

"I guess. I saw a couple butlers here and there, but there were still more officers. Do you think they got some kind of [Civil Servant] Title?"

"Who knows?"

Their conversation was cut short when the door was opened again, but it wasn't the maid coming back with the tea, but Henrietta herself. She had changed from her religious tunic and now wore an ornate dress. Even if all his knowledge on the matter came from dating sims that he played together with his friends, Kamijou still thought that she looked like a daughter of nobility should.

"My father is ready to receive you." She announced, politely keeping the door open.

Touma nodded and rose from his seat, followed by Othinus. He regretted a little that they wouldn't have the opportunity to try how drink tasted in this other world after all.

As they walked to the biggest door they had seen yet, they still had time for one final conversation.

"Why are you bothering with meeting any authority figure anyway? I thought they were all so below you that you wouldn't care?"

"Curiosity." Answered the girl with an even gaze. "Their family name intrigues me."

"How so?"

"You'll see."

* * *

The study advocated the same style as the rest of the mansion: outrageously big, but with little to offer in the way of luxury. However, it was still moderately better compared to the rest of the floor: the walls had some paintings hanging, the carpet was made with fur (if imported or hunted, Touma couldn't tell, since he had only seen goblins in the forest), and there was a scorpion head attached to a plate of wood in a corner of the room. Also, the enormous desk behind which a man was waiting was carved with some leafy motives, which was more than any other table they had seen.

As for the practicality, it manifested itself in the scene that said desk offered: despite being wide and creating a good two meters between people sitting on each of its wide sides and double that for the narrow one, it was so full of papers and documents that its brown surface was barely visible. Still, all the paper was neatly ordered in piles, so it didn't give off any messy impression.

"Please, take a seat." Said the man, pointing to the two chairs in their side of the desk. Touma tentatively reached for a chair, but Othinus simply stood to one side, leaning against a wall, her green eye taking in the entirety of the room. Henrietta had left, presumably to take care of any business or responsibilities she may had as the family's daughter, but Helen was present, standing next to the door, behind Kamijou and facing the administrator of the city.

The Governor was a relatively tall man, something that could be easily discerned even from his seated position. He had the same blonde hair as his daughter, though he cut it short and neat, more in the style of a soldier than a noble; a bit of a moustache, and piercing blue eyes.

"Allow me to introduce myself." He began. His voice was a low baritone, pleasant to the ear, and his voice was courteous, but also succinct and serious enough to cut off any nonsense from his interlocutors. "My name is Gregory Stian, the resident Governor. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"My name is Kamijou Touma. Pleased to make your acquaintance. She's Othinus." He added hastily when he saw that she wasn't going to say anything.

To his credit, the man didn't give any sign of displeasure at her rudeness. He merely continued to speak after nodding at each of the two in turn.

"Very well, Kamijou-dono. I believe you have not been introduced to the matter that will occupy us today, so first-"

"Your name." Interrupted Othinus suddenly. This time, the Governor did narrow his eyes and glanced at her, at the same time as Helen at the back panicked a little and vigorously shook her head at him, asking him to let the slight slide. The goddess continued, unperturbed. "Why is your family name Norse?"

"You know of the origin of our name?" He asked, faintly surprised.

She nodded.

"Stian, derived from _Stíngadr_ , meaning "treading one" and "wanderer". Why is your family name a word from Old Norse?" She repeated.

Kamijou made the connection quickly. It was normal she'd be interested when things were related to Norse Mythology, for obvious reasons. At the back, Helen archived the information in her head to research when she returned to the temple. Though she knew the young girl was actually a Goddess, she didn't know which one or if she was worshipped somewhere, so any clues regarding her identity were welcomed.

Gregory reclined on his back, crossing his hands over his abdomen.

"Both my family and all have our origins in the far north." He explained. That would explain why a blue-eyed, blond family was living so near the desert. Darker skin tones, and hair and eye color were better suited to resist the sun. "From what's been passed down, our ancestor liked to travel, so he was given that name. Eventually, he came to settle in the central plains, in what later would become the kingdoms. We thrived there for generations. And some years ago, I took the chance to make a name for myself and left my home to the colonies of the south." He gave her a curious glance. "How come you know about this language? It's not something that anyone can learn, specially this far in the south from the region it's talked, or it was. I don't know if it's extinguished. Are you perhaps a scholar?"

She merely smiled, apparently satisfied with his answer.

"So, Kamijou-dono. I have heard of your deed in being the one to complete the competition that our Goddess saw fit to offer us. In light of that, I have an offer I'd like for you to accept, by all means."

For the third time in a row, he overlooked the discourtesy and turned again to Kamijou. The teenager had started to gain a very favorable impression towards this man. He seemed composed and capable, and broad-minded enough to pass insults even though he should be in the higher position, socially speaking.

And then the illusion broke.

In a blindingly fast motion, he took one of the papers in front of him and slammed it down in front of Kamijou.

"Please take this mission and resolve the situation!"

With an equally fast response, Touma slammed his hand on the table, preventing the other man from sliding the request closer to him.

"I refuse!"

The two warriors looked at each other, each of them grinning slightly.

"Fuh… Brat, you don't know how much headaches you've been causing. You yourself look like you could bring a lot of trouble from the Church alone. Also, each time your nudist friend over there appears there are quarrels, congestions and uncontrolled crowds. I don't know if she's a [Grandmaster] or not, but I don't really care. Since you're the only one who can control her, take responsibility, accept the request and get out of my town!"

"Heh. Absolutely not. Whatever you got there stinks so much of misfortune that I want to run. Not only will I avoid Fukiyose's wrath, as long as she keeps coming here when I'm not around, half of the problem that the blonde over there causes will also be yours to deal with! Hahaha!"

"Hooh? Are you sure you want to refuse that fast?" He actually grinned, and Kamijou felt a sense of foreboding. "Even if it turns out someone came to ask for you specifically?"

"Naïve, old man. How does that change anything?"

"It changes everything, little brat. Specifically if the one who came to ask was a young, beautiful and tall woman, and who showed as much skin as that girl over there? Not to mention that her… assets" he threw Othinus a disdainful glance "are well and above your average. As a gentleman, can you reject the invitation of such a lady?"

For the sake of this world, Kamijou prayed that the calico's cat threat he had made this morning was still in Othinus mind to keep her in check, because the killing intent she was radiating was asphyxiating.

"T-That has nothing to do with anything! As if I could be lucky enough that such a woman would take interest in me!"

"Huhuhu. Your resistance is weakening, young'un. Here." He passed him a note. "Read for yourself."

 _To Kamijou Touma:_

 _I know this is selfish of me, but I have been entrusted with a request that might be of your interest. Please meet me on Wednesday at the gates of the city where you are currently located at five in the afternoon. I will explain the details as we travel to our destination._

 _K. Kanzaki._

"J-Just to confirm." Asked Kamijou. His voice was trembling and his face becoming paler by the second. "This particular young woman didn't happen to be have a knot in her shirt just above her navel, mismatching sleeves, a ponytail, and carry a stupidly long sword?"

"Oh? So you _do_ know her, after all." He grinned in victory. "She also said that would you fail to assist, she'll come looking for you personally."

Touma fell from his chair in his knees, defeated. His chances of escaping a Saint were more or less the same as the one he got of developing an ability, i.e., 0. He could always refuse to connect to the game, of course, but that would only result in more pain down the line when he was inevitably pulled into magic side conflicts again and they met. Running wasn't an option, and hiding wasn't an option.

He was doomed.

The Governor fumbled about his luck with the ladies, obviously not knowing what an innocent "request" entailed when a Saint was the one assigned to it. He had heard that they were the equivalent of a nuclear bomb, and they were deployed when the situation was that bad. Didn't that mean he would be plunged into an incredibly troublesome matter right off the bat? Othinus seemed to be distracted with something, musing in silence. And Helen was still in the back, watching the Goddess and making conjectures of her own. If she had a connection to the North, then… She could also use a spear… So then… Hmm…

Not finding any way to escape from his predicament, Kamijou allowed his head to drop, before he muttered:

"Such misfortune."

* * *

By next morning, he hadn't found any solution, so he reluctantly resigned to his fate. A cloud of depression revolved around his head while he cooked breakfast, changed into his uniform and left for school.

Tsuchimikado had morning duty, and Aogami had to go to school earlier because he had a couple matters to take care of as the class rep, so they didn't accompany him today. Instead, Othinus had installed herself into his scarf, hidden from view. The cloth also covered his mouth and muffled his voice, so they could converse without attracting too much attention. If someone heard him, they'd think he was humming.

"So, to what do I owe the great honor of the great you walking me to school?"

"You looked more downtrodden than usual. Aren't you taking this too hard?"

"No way. I'm not that afraid of the mission or whatever it's called. It's the implications that scare me." He resisted the urge to cover his face with his hands. "The Magic Side knows where I am. This is probably the first one of a buttload of events that they're come to ask me just because. I mean, they don't even have the excuse of being in Science Side territory, so it's not like they are going to lack personnel anyway! A game is supposed to do something you do for fun! Why won't they leave me alone?!"

"And you're only asking this now? You should've run away when you had the chance."

"Oh? Remind me again who was the one who wanted to create a bloodbath? I had to stay or you'd run rampant." He sighed. "I forgot to ask, but will you be coming this afternoon?"

"No. There's something I want to investigate."

"What is it?"

"Hmm." She crossed her arms and leaned against the folds of the red cloth. "Remember yesterday when I asked for their family name?"

"Yes? Was it something like Stain?"

"Stian. That's what intrigues me." She paused for a few seconds to organize her thoughts. "As far as we know, there's only one language in the other world. The people from the travel group of the Challenge were from different countries, but we understood them all just fine."

"Really? I didn't notice."

"That's the point. Everything is supposed to be unified. However, that man spoke like Old Norse was a different language. He even wondered if it was extinguished. If it was the language of their ancestors, that meant that it was spoken long before the players arrived. Does that mean that in the north he spoke of this rule of standardization doesn't apply? Or maybe it isn't the languages that changed, but our perception of it, so they maintain their roots and origins." Her forehead frowned in thought. "There's also the possibility that in only works with alive languages. What about dead languages, then? If everybody understands you when you speak your mother language, I doubt anyone has tried speaking in Latin. In fact, you wouldn't need to speak any other language besides your first."

"Why do you worry so much?" Kamijou brought a hand up and adjusted his scarf, so that it better hid his passenger, eliciting a faint gasp of protest. "Wasn't man speaking the same language one of the goals of magicians? You know, Babel's Tower and all that?"

"How come you know about religion?" Othinus asked, surprised.

Touma shrugged.

"The Endymion. Index talked about it."

"Ah, right." After a little struggle, the eyepatch doll finally managed to adjust her position from the earlier rustling of the scarf. "To answer your question, it's not that straightforward. The Tower is something from Christianity, other religions have different stories and myths to explain the same things. In particular, in Old Norse the language is closely related to runes." She made a few hand gestures, drawing invisible symbols in the air. "Runes that I created. I don't know how the changes in Latin affected Christian miracles, but the fact that a language exists in the other world that resembles Old Norse _and_ it was spoken long ago brings some questions to mind."

"Maybe the magic that was created based on you already existed before magicians started playing? It could have been something that the developers added."

"That's not it." She turned her head to look at him directly. "The people of the Kingdom where we are now worship Nephthys. However, they began to do that _after_ she created a miracle – the lake – and saved them. Then, and only then, Egyptian symbols of power like the pyramids were built. And she could only do all of that _after_ she escaped from World Rejecter's prison, which happened _after_ the game was completed and functioning. I doubt whoever created the game could predict that Magic Gods would mess with it. See where I'm getting at?"

"If" reflected Kamijou, "they only used Egyptian spells after Nephthys arrived… Then…"

His eyes widened and he looked at her. She smiled.

"Right. If Old Norse is related to runes, and those are related to me, how come they existed all those generations ago, when Odin never showed up until a couple weeks, and moreover, at the wrong side of the world? I never established a cult in the north, so how did they learn the language?"

"Uhh…" As he waited for the streetlight to turn green, Touma pondered. "Maybe you're overthinking it? As you said, the root of the language remains. It could be that they just gave background to the noble families, and besides, Old Norse eventually evolved to Norwegian, Danish and all of those in the real world, right?"

"That could also be true… Hmmm. The more I think, the more questions pop up."

Touma looked askance at her.

"You got all of that from a family name?"

She snorted.

"Stick to improvisation, human. Leave the tactical thinking to me."

"Hey, is that a covert jab? It's too early for this, don't you think?"

"Sometimes I wonder why I call you my understander. As if I would ever do something covert."

"Excuse me? Who was the one who created an organization to use as a cover for another organization to use as a smokescreen for your hidden secret plan?"

Their bicker continued as they approached the school. Thanks to the scarf, nobody noticed the boy talking to himself.

But the teenager didn't notice a certain conversation that was happening at the other side of the street, either.

"See? I told you that it was him." A boy pointed in his direction.

"The one with the black hair? Holy, that's a lot of spikes. Change of look?" Another boy looked that way.

"That one? What was his name again?" A girl inquired without interest.

"Kamijou. He was called Kamijou. As for his first name, it was… Taiga? Tera? I think it began with a T…" The first boy spoke again.

"Touma, if I remember correctly." A third boy complemented.

"I still can't remember him." The girl still couldn't muster any motivation.

"Me neither." A second girl spoke for the first time.

"You know," huffed the first boy, "the God of Pestilence."

* * *

 **And that was was it! Next chapter the first Magic Side characters from outside Academy City will make their appearance. One of them has already been named, but there will be two more. Can you guess who will they be? Hint: they're not from the main series. I'm fond of exclusive spin-off characters like that.**

 **See ya!**

* * *

 **Between the Lines**

I will now explain the contents of the requested investigation.

We have received information that the north-eastern part of the ring of forest of the Desert Kingdom has recently undergone strange changes. It has been reported that both the fauna and flora have mutated in strange ways. Ordinary monsters have seen a significant augment of their combat capabilities, and previously sent scouts were not able to find the cause of the abnormality before succumbing to their attacks.

Please head there and identify what is the cause of this changes. If the reason is a natural phenomenon, report it in. If a monster is the cause, put it down. In the case where a magician is responsible for the unusual activity, investigate what is his aim and bring him to us.

The area is full of different types of monsters. If the cause is a monster or a magician, they may be hostile. Be prepared to fight before heading out.


	16. Chapter 15 - Visit

**Hey there!**

 **I actually have things to talk about this time! I know. It surprised me too.**

 **First, NT 18. Well... It was crazy. Aiwass is OP, the Blasting Rod is OPx10, Aleister deserves both admiration for his tenacity and a hug, the poor guy, the maids in the index universe are freaky (I didn't know you could solve that many problems with a crowbar, wonder what the message is?), I really, really liked the Thoth Tarot (I mean, c'mon, it's like the ditto version of the grimoires), and Laura is an even bigger bitch than anyone gave her credit for. Tokiwadai's Level 5 team up that we thought was impossible had extraordinary results. But for me, the best part of all was the final twist of the epilogue. "Don't tell me London has fallen (lol)." "...Yep. As expected of our Archbishop." "Wait what?" "WE ARE LEGION!" Terrific. Go read if you haven't done so yet.**

 **Another positive notice is that this fic is now what I call a First Pager! What's a First Pager, you ask? Allow me to explain! Firstly, you need to go to the search option of the Toaru section of fanfiction. Once there, select all ratings, and then order in order of reviews, favorites and follows. If, and only if, the fic appears in the first page of each of the three options, then that fic can be called a First Pager.**

 **In other words, it's thanks to you all awesome people who have followed, favorited (is that a word?) and left your reviews that this fic has passed another landmark. Truly, thank you very much to you all.**

 **And now without further delay, let's answer the comments.**

 **Guest: Nope, it's Maika. We just got a volume about her. Touma knows three maids: Tsuchimikado's sister, Kumokawa-senpai's sister, and the Saint Silvia.**

 **1\. The most terrifying in the sense that while the others were more powerful, she was the only one who actually had an objective and was making moves to accomplish it. Kind of the difference between a soldier and a mugger. Both have guns, and one's more powerful than the other, but the later is the one that is most likely to endanger you personally. 2. Gremlin (Cendrilion, Saronia A. Irivika) was a cover for the true members of Gremlin, such as Marian or Loki. But even them were nothing but a smokescreen for Othinus for her to creat Gungnir by herself. So, three layers of importance. 3. You may call her however you want. If she exists, that is. If she doesn't... Well. I won't judge you. 4. My answer is coming kind of late, but... Duh. Obvious answer is obvious.**

 **Guest: _Ufufu_ being forced was the whole point of the scene. Touma was heading down a dangerous path for a moment.**

 **javier: Soy así de guay. Ja, no en serio, gracias por el apoyo. No, el dios mágico budista no puede aparecer. Los que sí están ahí son los que se cargó World Rejecter, pero la momia y el zombie fueron cosa de Aleister, así que no viajaron al mundo de Kamisato, y por tanto no tendrán la oportunidad de salir en el juego.**

 **Guest13: That's a good point you raise, but unfortunately if the gods could travel to every series and videogame world that'd be too overpowered (and troublesome to write). Othinus and Nephthys offered a reason why that's not possible in one of the earlier chapters, but it'll probably be referenced and adressed again in the future.**

 **Shikaku Zetsumei: Glad you have you back, then.**

 **And that's all I have to say. How tiring. Let's pray for boredom next time. Or Index III. I won't complain. I won't complain either if you review, I promise.**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 15 – Visit

"Should we go say something to him?" Inquired one of the girls.

"Nah, let him be. He's obviously a Level 0. Remember what the guide told us? We should probably go a bit farther north, it seems there are a bunch of interesting schools there." Answered another of the boys.

"But we came all the way here because of him, didn't we? It'd be a waste to just straight up leave. We can ask him for a visit of his high school. Even if it's not one of the best ones, the tour will probably be much more in-depth because we're related to a student. Plus, we'll be the only ones visiting this particular center, so they'll get pretty excited and give us more details."

"You think?" The first boy countered, dubious. "Academy City is still the number one research center in the world. I doubt that any teacher that has earned qualifications to work here would be dumb enough to leak info. Also, it's Kamijou we're talking about, so the friend card is probably useless. What kind of reputation-"

"Heellooooo~!"

The sudden voice that interrupted the argument from the side was young and undoubtedly feminine. When the group turned to look, they found a girl wearing a brown school uniform, with flowing golden hair and eyes to match. She seemed to be younger than them, but not by much. In particular, a certain part of her body made it impossible for one of the boys to look her directly in the face for more than three seconds.

"Hi, can we help you?"

The third boy, who had yet to intervene so far in the discussion, was the one who spoke first. None of the other two seemed able to speak, though for different reasons. One of them was in deep thought, with a frown on his face. He was quite sure he had seen the girl somewhere, but couldn't remember exactly where.

The second one had less profound reasons for his silence. The perpetual 30º degree angle of inclination of his neck told as much.

For their part, the two girls seemed content fading in the background.

"Yes, actually." Said the new student. She had her tongue slightly out and a look of concentration, while one of her hands was rummaging inside a purse that she wore with a chain across her chest. "Hang on a second… Ah, there it is."

It seemed she had found what she was looking for. The boy who addressed her assumed it was a map or a phone, and reasoned she was going to ask for directions. He was about to excuse his group (they weren't residents, after all), but someone else spoke before he had the chance to act.

"Ah!" Cried the one who had been thinking. "I knew I had seen you somewhere before! I know who you are, now. I saw you on TV in the opening speech of the Daihaseisai! You're a Level fi-"

"Okay, until here~ You're speaking too loud. Just for today, I'd like to have a little bit of a higher discretion ability~."

As she talked, her hand finally came out of her bag. It was holding something white and elongated, that appeared to have a lot of buttons. She pointed its tip in their direction, and pressed one of them.

Instantly, a star appeared in the eyes of the five teens, and all the bustle that they had been making disappeared as if they had instantly been transported to the far reaches of space. They stood in place, unnaturally still, gawking at nothing. The people that passed by completely ignored them, going about their day without so much as looking in their direction. Their gazes seemed to slide off the group.

"Alright~ now let's see what secrets do you hold, shall we? Open sesame~"

Pointing at them once more, she pressed another button. She stood still for a few seconds as she processed whatever she had glimpsed from her strange actions. Then, with the same smile, pointed at her captives once again.

"Thank you very much for your cooperation~ you're free to go now. You won't remember anything about this encounter, but don't hold a grudge, alright? Bye~"

And just like that, she turned around and left, the soft click of the button on her remote the only indication the five confused teens had of the strange visit.

"So," resumed the first boy where they left off, "do we go say hello or not?"

* * *

Less than a street away, Shokuhou Misaki marched aggressively, seeking to distance herself from the group. All traces of good cheer had been wiped from her face, and the furious pace she maintained was the only indication that anything was amiss.

After turning a few more corners, she found a secluded alley and entered without hesitation. A swing of her remote prompted the delinquents who were planning on skipping class to head to their schools and comply with their duties, and a second one implanted a suggestion to all the people in a three miles area to ignore the particular backstreet she was currently in.

The preparations complete, she moved towards a wall, leaning her back against it. Slowly, she let herself fall until she was sitting on the ground, not minding that the floor was probably dirty and that she was staining her skirt. She clutched her bag to her chest with one hand, while the other reached inside for her phone.

When she found it, she looked at her contacts and made her way down one by one, until she located the one she was looking for. She ignored the slight trembling of her hand and pressed the call button. At the same time, she raised her knees and brought them to her chest, and rested her chin on them. She used the arm that was not holding the phone to hug herself.

It took three _beeps_ until the other side answered.

" _Hello? Who is it?_ "

"…"

" _Alright, alright. No more jokes, I get it. Girl, are you in a serious mood today. Give me a second until I got you on camera._ "

"…"

" _Found you. I thought you'd be nearer than this. What are you doing alone in that alleyway? Have you awakened to some strange exhibitionism fetish? Let me tell you now, but I'm not into voyeurism, so if you need someone to watch you call one of your dolls. I'm a maiden, you know? I only have eyes for a single person._ "

"…"

The voice took on an irritated undertone.

" _Hey, look. I'm a busy woman. If after calling me you won't even have the decency to blush or at least answer when I'm talking to you, I'll be hanging up-_ "

" _Keep talking._ "

The Level 5's voice was cutting, sharp like the edge of a knife. Through the one-sided exchange, she had not moved a muscle, keeping her gaze forward from above her knees.

Her hands were shaking, her teeth were clenched, and her eyes had a faint shade of red.

"I don't care how you do it. Be your usual irritating self. Say something embarrassing or stupid. Tease me. Make fun of me. Keep me on edge.

Distract me."

" _…_ "

The other side of the line was silent, no doubt hypothesizing about what had happened to put her in such a state. She waited until she worked on the angles of her cameras so that she could notice more details.

"Please."

She would notice, sooner than later. She was too smart not to. She'd realize that the shaking of her hands was not caused by fear, but by anger. That the clenching of her jaw wasn't choking back sobs, but roars. That the red on her eyes didn't come from tears of pain, but of ire.

Shokuhou Misaki was a Level 5 who specialized in the mind. She was exceedingly familiar with all manners of conduct, thought processes, and emotional reactions. Because she used her abilities almost exclusively on other people, it was easy to miss, but that also meant that she knew what actions to take to keep herself in check. Most people would be easily misled when trying to get a read on her.

However, Kumokawa Seria was not most people. She was a master at deciphering the human heart. She'd be able to read her like an open book based on her body language, personality patrons, and data analysis.

She was sure to discover that what she was doing her best to contain and repress from getting out was the white-hot, smoldering _rage_ that was assaulting every fiber of her very being.

" _Or else I'll do something that you would approve of but_ he _would regret_."

* * *

"Hey!"

Touma paused when the shout sounded for the third time became progressively louder. He only intended to check up what was it, but found a group of people stalking toward him. When they noticed he was looking at them, one of the boys waved his arm.

He waited for a bit until they caught up, wondering what could they possibly want with him.

"Heya! How are you doing?"

(Damn.)

Kamijou Touma realized the seriousness of the situation. The other party was calling out to him. To a normal person, that wasn't anything unusual. However, Kamijou had lost his memories during an incident the 28th of July and could not remember anything before that checkpoint. Not only that, he was maintaining an illusion of normality by pretending that nothing had happened.

That presented him with a dilemma. He didn't recognize the five people before him. Should he act like he knew them, or shouldn't he? If he acted like he knew and they were strangers, they might suspect something. Worse still, a classmate could see him and inquire more in class, which could potentially lead to his memory loss being exposed, the very thing he had wanted to avoid in the first place.

On the other hand, if he acted like they were strangers and they turned out to be close, the same risks applied, with the extra bonus that the five teens might be directly related to other people he knew, making the possible reveal even more extended.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm down and think. What were the chances of these guys being his acquaintances?

He took a look back to the people he knew from before the memory loss.

Sample 1: Index Librorum Prohibitorum

-Foreigner

-Strange name

-Dresses oddly

-Religious person in the City of Science

Sample 2: Tsuchimikado Motoharu

-Neighbor and classmate

-Spy

-Magician-Esper hybrid

-Siscon

-Wears a Hawaiian shirt (even in winter) and sunglasses (even indoors)

Sample 3: Aogami Pierce

-Pervert

-Classmate

-Pervert

-Wide range of interests

-Pervert

-Blue hair and piercings

-Pervert

-Pervert (it's important so it bears repetition)

Sample 4: Stiyl Magnus

-14 years old

-Over 2m tall

-Cabal-destroying Mage (fire-type)

-Heavy smoker

-Again, 14 YEARS OLD

Sample 5: Misaka Mikoto

-Middle school student

-Ojou (kind of? At least technically, right?)

-Short temper

-Level 5

-Obsessed with duels

-Childish taste

Sample 6: Kanzaki Kaori

-Saint (1 of less than 20 in the world)

-BB (Big Boobs)

-Wears strange, mismatching clothing

-Fallen Angel Ero Maid

Then, he observed the people carefully. The boys wore jeans, jackets and comfortable sneakers. That didn't make much sense until he saw the identification on their necks. If they were visitors, then that was indeed appropriate clothing for sightseeing. Their hair colors were black, brown and blond, without any weird green or blue mixed in. They seemed to be carrying backpacks and purses.

Verdict: completely normal.

It wasn't that hard of a decision.

"I'm sorry, do I know you guys?"

"Oh? C'mon now, how could you forget about us, you little punk!"

The boy who had saluted initially laughed. His hair was a light shade of yellow, and his height was the tallest of the group, a fact that he used to grab the boy into a headlock and ruffle his hair. Kamijou was a bit stumped at the over-familiarity of who from his perspective was a complete stranger, but managed to keep a straight face.

He didn't think he had such an intimate friend. If he did, he would have noticed through his phone messages, e-mails or calls register. Also, if he didn't call in a long time, the other person would get worried and come to check on him, or at least give him a call, right?

As he was musing over those things, another one of the boys spoke.

"I don't blame you for not remembering, Kamijou-san. It's been years since we last met each other." He adjusted his glasses with his index, and turned around, making a sign with his other arm. "I suppose we should re-introduce ourselves, then, to see if we can refresh your memory. I'm Sasaki, Sasaki Kosuke."

"And I'm Tanaka Kenta. You better remember it!"

The boy who had captured Kamijou released his prey, who proceeded to look at him.

"What. You got something to say?"

"Tanaka Kenta. Tanaka Ken. Naka Ken. Nakaken. Kind of an alliterative name… Hmm."

"Leave me alone! It's supposed to be read in Kanji, so the syllables do not overlap phonetically!"

"Yeah well, the author knows jack about kanji, so…"

"Huh?"

"Anyway," intervened Sasaki before the conversation could proceed in a dangerous direction and a certain wall ended up permanently damaged, "the other boy is Miyara Hideaki." The last guy gave a lazy wave. "You don't remember him? He's actually pretty amazing, you know? He goes to an elite school and is at the top of his grade in studies and sports. He's also the ace of the kenjutsu club."

"Why are you bragging about him…" Kamijou had completely recovered from the attack before, and started to make sense of the situation. "Oh, I get it." He hit a fist into his open palm. "You're the follower kind of guy who takes pride in being allowed to be with someone who's at the top of the food chain, and in return feels compelled to announce his grandiosity to the rest of the world even when no one asked, right? So I'm guessing you're the smart one and Nakaken over there is the muscle. That'd make one of those two girls his girlfriend?" His eyes turned toward the girls in the back.

"What's wrong with your overreaching imagination?!"

"Did you just give me a stupid nickname?!"

"Huh? So she's not his girlfriend?"

"She is…! She is, but…!"

"Hmph."

Sasaki-san the introducer had gone red in the face in anger, and Nakaken-kun was baring his teeth. Kamijou rubbed his head, even as he heard Othinus giggle from her hiding spot for some unknown reason. At that moment, one of the girls that had so far just been letting the situation play out. She was relatively tall, standing at about the same height as Touma. Her black hair was long and wavy, and she wore a shirt, skirt, stockings and boots, giving her the appearance of a clique leader. Her boobs were quite big for her age, though of course, Fukiyose's came out on top.

The girl came to Miyara's side and clung to him.

"I don't know how you deduced it, but yes, I am his girlfriend. I saw how you looked at me, but bad luck for you, I'm already taken. Hideaki-kun is- Why are you sighing?"

"Ah, ah. So you're _that_ type of girl."

"That type of girl…?"

"The self-centered kind that assumes that every breathing male that glances her way is interested in her in a not-that-decent way. Give me a break..."

"Haaaaaah!? Why you!"

"Well, well, that's enough." For the first time, Miyara spoke. At the same time, he slipped his arm from the girl's embrace and put it around her shoulders. "I'm sure he's just joking. And you still haven't introduced yourself." He smiled at her, and turned to Kamijou while the smitten teenager proceeded to melt. "Her name is Kuenai, Kuenai Aimi. The last girl over there is Hashimoto Shiori. In case you were still wondering, we were in the same school during kindergarten."

"Oh, I see, I see." Kamijou rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He had been sent to Academy City when he graduated from kindergarten, i.e. six years old. So these were from the same school from his hometown.

"I see you've developed more of a sense of humor than you had during those years." He continued, smiling. "But please stop it. Calling people self-centered can hurt them. It'd be better if you don't do it again." By now, Kuenai's eyes were radiating stars.

"Sure, sure."

To the side, Tanaka narrowed his eyes at the spiky-haired boy's nonchalant attitude, but Miyara continued as if nothing had happened.

"So, Kamijou-kun. This may be sudden, but could you let us into your school? We'd like to tour it if possible."

"Huh? Wouldn't it be better for you guys if you went to high level schools somewhere else? There's nothing especially interesting in ours, you know?"

"That's precisely the point. If we did what everybody does, we wouldn't get to see the real Academy City. We're visiting because we're considering to transfer, so we'd prefer to see the truth without make-up or embellishments."

"I get it… Well, I don't really mind either way, but you'll have to ask permission to the teachers."

"Excellent!" Miyara's smile became dazzling. "I assume you were going to school before we interrupted you, right? We wouldn't want you to be late because of us, so could you lead the way?"

"This way."

The late-to-school Kamijou turned and started to walk again. Behind him, the group of five followed, some of them conversing in hushed whispers.

"Human."

"What is it, Othinus?"

He adjusted his scarf so it covered his mouth better. There was no reason to add "Talks to himself" to the image that the people from his hometown had of him.

"That smiling guy. I don't like him."

"Any reason in particular?"

"You didn't notice? During the whole conversation, he didn't say "please" or "thank you" once after he asked you for a favor."

"Your sense of scale is messed up, god. You destroyed the world, so I think that impoliteness in a conversation is a comparatively small crime to be mad about."

"T-This is this, and that is that! Anyway, I don't like him."

"Yes, yes. By the way, I don't think I'll be able to talk that much with you from this point on. It's fine now that I'm walking in front and they don't see my mouth move, but when we get in class I'll have to put the scarf in my bag. You can play with my phone if you want, but silence it first or they'll confiscate both the phone and you."

"Alright."

* * *

"He's changed."

Following behind the black-haired teenager with the scarf, the five visitors were having a conversation. Elite Miyara gave a cool one-liner, but it was instantly rebuffed by her girlfriend.

"Well, of course he's changed. He was five the last time we saw him."

"No, that's not what I meant." One of his arms was currently being glomped, so he used the remaining one to scratch the back of his head. "Even during childhood, the core traits of the personality show through. Well-behaved, troublemaker or recluse… There are only so many patrons of conduct a child can adopt, but most of the time they're effective indicators of what kind of person that kid is going to become. It's obvious that he'd grow physically and mature mentally. But there's some kind of more fundamental change that I can't quite put my finger on… A shift in his atmosphere?"

"Hideaki-kun, stop trying to be cool. You were also five last time you saw him. I like you whether you do those kinds of things or not."

"Hmm."

"I also think he seems different somehow." Intervened Sasaki from the side. "Like, his gloominess is gone? He gives a different kind of vibe."

"Oh not you too." Huffed Kuenai. "Again, we were all 5 years old. He can change all he wants. He even came to Academy City!"

"If anything, he's gotten better at making people mad." Pipped in Hashimoto.

"Right." Tanaka's eyes darkened. "How dare that little bastard…"

"How dare he imply that I'm an egotistical girl! _He_ was the one who was looking me up and down!"

"Right, right. You may want to leave the discussion for later. We're almost there."

The group looked in the direction Hashimoto was pointing at. Their guide was currently talking with the teacher who was guarding the door, a tall, beautiful woman in a green track-suit. He was gesturing and explaining, and at one point, he pointed in their direction. The woman listened and, at the end, made them a gesture indicating that they should approach.

For the second time in a day, Tanaka was rendered incapable of raising his eyes above the 25º mark.

"Alright, I've been explained the situation. We have no teachers available to guide you around, so for now, how about accompanying your friend and attending class? This way you'll get a feel of how actual lessons are here. That's why you came to our school in the first place, right?"

"Ah, yes. Thank you very much."

""""Thank you very much.""""

Following Miyara's lead, all five bowed. She simply laughed and waved them off.

"Alright, my class is this way." Instructed Kamijou, starting to walk.

Another discussion sprang up while they walked across the corridors and up the stairs.

"What do you think it will be like?"

"Will they have drugs on the desk?"

"Or maybe those psychometry cards with stars, squares and circles?"

"Or…"

"We're here."

The spiky-haired boy gave them no time to prepare their hearts and directly opened the very normal classroom door. He directly entered, and when they followed him, they found a very normal classroom, where very normal students were sitting behind very normal desks.

They sighed.

"Well, I guess it was to be expected…"

"Kamijou-chan, you're late! What happened- Oh, who are these people?"

A childish voice sounded. When they looked, they found an elementary school student with pink hair, pink eyes and a pink dress.

"Sensei, it's like this…"

They watched, amazed, how the boy explained what had happened, how the kid nodded now and then, and how the rest of the students acted like everything was completely normal.

"I see. But, Kamijou-chan, bringing friends to school is not really a good reason for being late, so I can't excuse the fault."

"S-Such misfortune…" A black cloud appeared above the unlucky teenager's head. The pint-sized lecturer turned towards them.

"Well, children! I don't think we have enough chairs for everyone, so please stay at the back. I don't mind if you sit on the floor, but try not to make too much noise, okay?"

They nodded and went to the back of the classroom, where they commented in whispers the latest development.

"S-So she was actually the teacher…"

"A-As expected of Academy City…"

"Is she some kind of genius? But then, why is she in this kind of school…?"

"Are ya surprised?" A boy with blue hair and piercings leaned his chair back, and turned to talk with them. "Komoe-chan is one of the seven wonders of Academy City. She's so mysterious, no one knows how exactly that happened."

"Huh?"

"No talking in the back!"

"Yes, sensei!"

"""""…?"""""

* * *

After that, class was mostly uneventful until the recess. The moment the pint-sized teacher crossed the door, the group of five was swarmed by a tide of teenagers fueled by unrelenting curiosity.

"What's your name? You weren't introduced."

"Are you on the program to consider transferring?"

"How much of the City have you seen?"

"More like, how do you like our city? Mwahahahahaha!"

"Quit it with the meaninglessly self-important laugh!"

"The iron wall is coming! Evacuate!"

"Why did you come with Kamijou?

"Or rather, how are you related to him?"

Popular student Miyara didn't lose his composure. He smiled and made gestures to calm the crowd, and explained that they were indeed from outside, that it was just their second day visiting, so they hadn't gained that much of an impression towards the city yet, and that they came from the same town as Kamijou, and that they went to the same kindergarten school and by chance they met while he was coming and they had asked him to take them along.

Fearing that what was tentatively dubbed as the Miyara effect would take hold of the girls, jealous girlfriend Kuenai advanced and discretely positioned herself by her side, glaring at the girls while emitting an obvious message, but when they noticed (and they noticed, because girls were sensitive about that kind of thing) she was beautifully ignored, leaving her feeling halfway between irritated and bewildered.

Her gesture, however, wasn't missed by all of the boys. An extremely quiet, but intense "I see" resounded across the classroom, making the previously bustling of the crowd diminish in intensity.

"So it was you!"

While the five were a bit confused at the sudden and almost solemn silence that had appeared all of a sudden, two boys made their way toward them. By this point, except Kuenai how was standing next to Miyara, the other four had been offered a seat at the desks at the back to let them rest and make it easier to crowd around.

The first one they already knew, it was the same boy with blue hair and piercings that had talked with them before. The other one was blond, and to their surprise wore a Hawaiian shirt (even though it was winter) and sunglasses (even though they were indoors). They advanced to the front of Hashimoto's desk, and as one, slammed their hands on it.

"We were discussing it before, but it has been made clear now."

"Yes, indeed it has. There is no more room for doubt."

"Um…?"

The rest of the class awaited with bated breath and, in one case, an exasperated expression, for the verdict that these two sages had arrived at, even though they most likely had no idea what they were talking about.

"It's simple, really." Spat out the blue-haired one, who spoke with an annoying Kansai accent that was most probably faked. "If you come from the same hometown and went to the same school, that makes you childhood friends with Kami-yan."

"Childhood friends who by a twist of destiny met here, ten years later!"

"Um, okay…?"

"But there were two of you, so we couldn't be sure. I mean, if we had to guess, we would have betted on you, because you're closer to his type. Since you're bigger."

"B-Bigger…?"

"In the chest." Clarified the blond helpfully.

Kuenai would have let out a shriek of righteous rage, but the duo didn't give her an opportunity.

"However, that other one is clinging an awful lot to that annoyingly refreshing guy, so that only leaves you as a candidate."

"Yes, it must be so."

"Err… What are you…"

"Indeed!"

"That's right!"

""You're the childhood friend who made a promise with Kami-yan to marry when you grow up, aren't you!""

"Haaa…?"

Chaos descended. The girls screamed, the boys raged, the two idiots looked satisfied with their deduction skills, the five visitors were stunned into stillness, and a certain big-breasted girl imparted violence onto the culprits of the mayhem.

"As if that would ever happen! Don't come to conclusions on your own, idiots!"

In a corner, a girl who would probably look good in a shrine maiden outfit and who had managed to remain uninvolved despite all the anarchy scowled.

"Tch. A childhood friend, huh… I thought we'd manage to avoid that route, but I was naïve. A formidable enemy…"

And through all that, the spiky-haired boy was absent because he had gone to buy something to eat.

* * *

After things calmed down a bit, most of the students left the five strangers to go eat and in some cases buy lunch. As for the group of five, they were led to the canteen by the big-breasted girl with the big forehead who introduced herself as Fukiyose Seiri, so they could get something. The other two guys from before had offered to be their guides, but she had appeared of nowhere and pummeled them (again), and after that took them under her wing.

While they were waiting at the cue, Hashimoto couldn't contain her curiosity, and addressed who appeared to be the sanest person out of the bunch.

"So, um… what was that all about?"

"You're the enemy."

"Hawaaa?!"

A voice sounded from just her side. When she turned to look, Hashimoto found that there was another girl there.

"S-Since when…"

"I have been here since the start."

"Gulp."

"A-Academy City is terrifying…"

Fukiyose sighed and reprimanded the ghost girl.

"Don't scare our guests like that. They'll get a bad impression of our school."

"I don't think it can get any worse…"

After paying for their meals, they brought their trays to a free table. A few rows away, some students were making noise and, sure enough, when they raised their head to look, they saw three idiots animatedly talking with each other. For a few moments the black-haired one dropped his head in what was palpable despair even from several rows away, but then the blonde laughed at him, the blue-haired one joined in, and he sprung back up filled with indignation.

"They're stupid, but they liven up the place. Look there."

The guide pointed to the five teens with her chopsticks. The other girl merely threw them an uninterested glance before resuming her eating. She had chosen a hamburger.

Around them, some other groups of boys piped in from time to time in the conversation, giving their opinion on the matter, only to be fiercely rebuked by the three initiators and patronized in a condescend manner. Unable to take the humiliation, they got fired up on their own and gradually got absorbed in the bubble of merriness that gradually kept expanding.

"What are they talking about?" Asked Tanaka.

"Don't know, don't ask." Sighed Fukiyose in response, trying to shut off the faint cries of "Maid", "Imouto", "Cat girl", "Dog Ears", "Bikini Armor", "Healer", "Conquest", and other words. Unfortunately for the group, a strange coincidence made the words "Fukiyose", "Demon King" and "No Sex Appeal" come out one after the other, and she had to excuse herself from her guests while trying to restrain the mambo fiesta that her eyelid had become, before proceeding to walk with menacing steps to the party that had unknowingly aggroed the Last Boss.

"How come…?"

"Mmmmhh?"

"I don't really understand. What's he doing in the middle of all that?"

Tanaka continued to chew as he looked toward the direction where a massacre was currently unfolding.

"Yeah, I guess." Sasaki slurped his ramen and turned to watch. "From where we met to the school was less than 15 minutes of journey, but he still tripped twice where there was nothing on the floor."

"And a bird practiced marksmanship with his scarf."

"And a waiter fell when he passed near. In front of the coffee shop on the other side of the street. I mean, in a way it's pretty amazing that the cup bounced so many times on so many different cars and traveled so far without breaking or spilling only to fall onto his chest."

"And if what we saw in class was true, his grades are awful."

"And he got a fault, too, so I guess the teachers don't like him either."

"His bad luck it's still there. It's not gone. So, why…?"

"Is it that strange that he gets along well with his friends?" asked Hashimoto.

"Oh, right. Maybe he hasn't told anyone."

"About what?"

"I don't know." Sasaki made a wide gesture with his chopsticks and resumed slurping. "His past, and stuff. The effects of his bad luck."

"Ah, that could be it."

"Should be tell them?" This time it was Kuenai the one who talked. "We should warn them. As the ones who know, it is our responsibility."

"They won't believe us anyway." Calmly asserted Miyara. "That's probably why he came to this city in the first place."

"But we should try, don't you think?" Kuenai insisted.

Miyara inspected her face. The expression it had was mostly of concern, but he knew her well enough to detect the malice lurking underneath. He sighed. She still guarded rancor for his thoughtless comment from the morning.

Tanaka finished his plate and put down his chopsticks, moved his tray to the side to free the space in front of him and laid down his head.

"Ugh. I don't know. Still… It feels wrong. To see him like this."

"Why?"

"Uh… I mean. He's the God of Plague, you know? To see him laughing is… Well, at the moment he kind of looks like he's about to cry. That headbutt must have hurt. But, I dunno, he seems kind of content. That's strange."

"Why?"

"As I said…" He raised his head, annoyed, but his next words died in his throat. The one who repeated her question for the second time was not any of his four companions. It was the quiet girl who until now had been eating silently in the corner. They had forgotten she was there, so she had heard the entire conversation. By the looks on the other faces', they had forgotten about her too.

Seeing that she wasn't going to get any answer, the quiet girl insisted once more.

"Why is it strange that Kamijou-san is having fun with his friends?"

Tanaka looked at the others. Sasaki raised his shoulders, and Kuenai looked at Miyara. He sighed.

"Err… What was your name again… That guy, has he ever talked about his past?"

"I'm Himegami Aisa. This is the third time I'm reminding you. And no, he doesn't talk much about the past."

"Ha! I knew it!"

Tanaka raised a fist. Miyara merely glanced at him before continuing his explanation.

"Then you probably don't know this, but… It would be better not to associate with him too much. He's a jinx. Wherever he goes, disasters happen. Even we, who were children last time we saw him, know about this. Everyone knew. I think that even he himself realizes. So, if he hasn't told you, then we think that he's being irresponsible, since somebody could get hurt."

The girl just looked at him for some instants. Then, she rose from her seat.

"Sometimes people's pasts aren't easy things to talk about. Or remember."

The last part was merely a mumble, so they just barely managed to catch it. Without another word, she picked her tray and left. The five remaining teens just looked at each other, confused.

At that moment, someone else plopped down in another chair, huffing. Fukiyose had returned, leaving in her wake a mountain of twitching corpses. She grabbed her chopsticks and began to eat, looking around.

"What happened to Aisa? Why did she leave?"

"Well… We were talking about Kamijou's past. Did he ever tell you anything?"

"Not really? I don't think so, no."

"You see," Sasaki rubbed the back of his neck, "we were talking about that topic with her. If you didn't know, turns out that-"

"Alright, that's enough." She finished her meal and sighed. "The past is kind of a touchy topic for her. She told me once without going into detail, but I can understand why she'd prefer not to talk about it." She looked at the ceiling, with a helpless expression. "It seems that some kind of disaster happened at her village, and she was the only survivor. She never spoke of the details." Shaking her head, she stood up and trailed in the direction her friend had gone off to. "I better go check if she's okay. Afternoon classes will begin in ten minutes, so just follow the same route you took to come here and be there in time, and you'll be fine."

Once again, the five teens looked at each other.

"I guess we messed up."

"Yeah. We should apologize later."

* * *

Afternoon classes passed in a flash. Just like before, the guest group hung out at the back, only marginally following the lectures until the bell that signaled the end of the day rang.

"Kami-yan! What are you doing today? Wanna go to the arcade?"

"Ah, sorry, I already have plans for today. Maybe another day."

"What? Is it another girl? Did you get another date?!"

"I guess that I am more or less kidnapped by proxy."

"So you don't deny that's another girl! Curse you!"

"Now, now, Aogami Pierce. Things are more complicated than you think they are nya."

"Tsuchimikado, don't you dare…"

"I mean, a _very_ busty _very_ hot onee-san specifically came from another town, left a note and _demanded_ that he goes to her without giving margin to complain! How could this winner in life have any free time to hang out with poor losers like us!"

"SHUUUT UUUPPP! I _knew_ you had to be involved somehow!"

"Damn you Kami-yan! When did you have the time to spread your disease to that kind of out-of-reach object of desire, huh?!"

Meanwhile, some people at the back were busy picking their jaws from the floor.

"He's got a date? _That_ Kamijou?"

"With a busty onee-san?!"

Only Miyara, by virtue of having a girlfriend, managed to retain his composure.

"What intrigues me more are how the rest of the people are reacting."

"Huh? Oh, you're right."

The boys were, for the most part, rejoicing in the misery of the misfortunate student at the hands of their fellow classmates or burning with jealousy, or both. As for the girls, the acted mostly normal, mostly being the key word. The three guys didn't notice, but Kuenai and Hashimoto were able to notice a clenched fist here, grinding teeth there, some glares this way, some subtle foot stomping… It was baffling.

There was one possible explanation, though.

The two girls looked at one another.

((No way, right?))

"So? What are you planning to do now?" Fukyiose walked to the back and addressed them. "I suppose you wanted to spend more time with your childhood friend and have him show you around, but if he had a prior arrangement before, there's nothing to do. It's bad timing, but he didn't know you were coming, so it can't be helped."

"Ah, no, actually…"

"Oh, don't worry about that." Kamijou approached after managing to disentangle from the two idiots he called friends. "I made a call during lunch break and asked a friend to guide you for the day. You said you wanted to see the real City and not the publicity-friendly zones that were recommended, and he knows a lot about that kind of stuff."

"No, well…"

"Oh, not bad, Kamijou. You showed initiative for once, good job!"

"Ah, it's nothing, really."

"…"

The strangers had no choice but to be swept by the flow of the residents of the capital of science.

* * *

"Hamazura! Here!"

Some time later, the group of five followed after Kamijou out of the school and to a secluded park, where they waited for a couple minutes. Then, the spiky-haired boy rose from the bank and made signals with his arm to a distant silhouette. It noticed him, and approached them.

When he was close enough to be distinguished, the group (minus Touma) stiffened.

The person who approached was a boy of about their same age, with unruly blonde hair. He was dressed in jeans and a jacket, but they could see the edges of his shirt peeking through the bottom of the latter.

More than anything, the image that it brought to their minds could not be denied.

(A delinquent…?)

(It's a delinquent.)

(A delinquent…)

(A delinquent, huh.)

(Why a delinquent?)

Then, after they processed the information, they turned to their spiky-haired childhood friend.

All five could hear some strange bell sound chime in their heads.

 _Ding!_

 _Congratulations! Your Kamijou's status has gone up!_

 _Slacker -_ _Delinquent_

"Thanks for coming, man. I owe you one."

"Don't worry about it, Boss! I also needed an excuse to get away from the B-movie marathon that shortie was planning on putting me through, so you're actually helping me here. Are these the guys you told me about?"

"Right, right. They are considering transferring, so they came to visit. Just take them around for a bit."

"Ah, I get it." He crossed his arms and nodded his head. "They want to see the real Academy City and not the sugar-coated and visitant-ready one, right? You have found the right guy."

"Right, so… Why are you all looking at me like that?"

The five teenagers were still staring at Kamijou. They were listening to the conversation, but their heads had been stuck on a single word.

(((((Boss…)))))

 _Ding!_

 _Congratulations! Your Kamijou's status has gone up!_

 _Delinquent -_ _Banchou_

"Anyway, I leave you in good hands. You should probably tell him about the hotel you're staying at and the hour you want to return, so you can plan the route beforehand. I'll be leaving first. Here's my number, if you want to visit our school again, just give me a call tomorrow morning. Don't be too late or else class will begin and I won't answer. Well, if it was me I'd probably check out the other schools, too. Even if it was prepared beforehand, it is still worthwhile to check the recommended ones.

I'm out. Hamazura, see you around."

The boy turned tail and started to walk. The blond delinquent shouted "See you" to the retreating back and turned towards them with his hands in his pockets.

"So, shall we go? I hope you enjoy the ride."

The five teens could only nod while wondering what was going to happen.

* * *

Ten minutes later.

"I knew it." Muttered Tanaka-kun while he took a boxer's pose.

"Kuh… This will be tough." Mumbled Sasaki while he took off his backpack and prepared to use it as a morning star. "They outnumber us 4 to 1."

"We should never have believed him!" Half shrieked Kuenai as she checked the sharpness of her fingernails.

What kind of development had come to pass in ten minutes to make them react in such a way?

After the spiky-haired boy exited the stage, the blond boy directed them out of the park and through some winding alleys until they reached a kind of interior plaza between buildings. A small set of stairs to one side led to a wooden door from which the buzzing of conversations and an occasional ringing of plates was heard.

However, that wasn't what caught their attention.

What truly held importance were the thugs that lay sprawled all over the place. Or rather, their number.

All twenty-two of them.

Some were smoking, some were talking in animated voices, and some were commenting on a video they were watching on a phone.

And they all looked menacing while doing so.

So naturally, they were preparing as best they could for the impending beatdown and trying to accept that they would get mugged on their first real day of tourism in a foreign land, but then, as if mocking their determination, one of the thugs raised his eyes.

"Oh! What's up, Aniki!"

"Oh?"

Others soon followed his example.

"Hey, everyone! It's the Boss!"

"Aniki!"

"Who're those people? Friends of yours?"

"Sup, guys."

The five people relaxed. It was their first time interacting or even being that near hooligans, but their attitudes were different than what they had thought.

"Jeez, I told you already that I quitted, didn't I. You don't need to call me Aniki anymore."

"It's alright, Boss. Hattori-aniki said that you'd be welcomed if you ever wanted to come back."

"Ah, that guy again…"

"Anyway, Boss. Who're they?"

The conversation turned toward them once again, but the people concerned were at the moment busy performing some restructuring in their minds.

Taking into account their new info, if they lined up the hierarchy from bottom to top,

These band of punks - The blonde idiot-looking thug - Kamijou Touma

 _Ding!_

 _Congratulations! Your Kamijou's status has gone up!_

 _Banchou -_ _Gang leader_

Miyara was the first to regain his bearings.

"How do you do. I'm Miyara Hideaki, we're visiting the city with the transfer student program license."

"Ahn?"

The reply was instantaneous. Behind his amicable smile, the elite student began to panic.

(What? What is it? Did I say something wrong? Maybe I was too polite? Don't tell me there were words that they didn't understand… Poor guys… Must be drop-outs…)

And then he realized that the one who spoke wasn't any of the delinquents, but one of his companions.

"You!" Screamed Sasaki, pointing at the little group of three that was watching a video on a phone. "That… That is… I can't believe it, but… It couldn't be Arisa-chan's new single, right?!"

"This?" Answered one of the guys. "Well, yes it is, but… Wait hold on. You said that you're visiting the City, right? Then I guess you wouldn't know."

"Listen and be surprised! Arisa-chan is from Academy City, so every time there's she releases a new song, it's available for us a week earlier than the rest of the world!"

"But Arisa-chan herself asked not to make it known, since it was a service to her hometown. And then she winked! So of course you wouldn't have heard about it. No true fan would ever speak!"

"Damn it all! What City of Science and technological advancement! So this is where the true priorities lay, huh!"

The three thugs took turns to boast, and Tanaka, who was also a fan, exploded in resentment. Then Kuenai expressed her request.

"Could… Could we watch it too…?"

"""Heh."""

As one, the three devotees smirked, and opened their arms in a gesture of welcome.

"Of course you can! It is our duty as fans to expand the songs of our idol to as many people as possible!"

"""WOOOOHHHHH!"""

"Well, wait a moment before you begin." Hamazura calmed the three outsiders who were so excited that flames seemed to appear in their background.

"Ah, boss, you said you were showing them around, right? As expected, you brought them here for "that", isn't that right?"

"Of course. There wouldn't be any point otherwise."

""That"?"

Miyara asked. The blond pointed at the only door of the space.

"Follow me for a bit. You'll see."

They marched to the stairs and across the door, and unexpectedly found themselves in a small pub. Once there, the delinquent began to explain.

"Most of the restaurants, cafes and taverns in this City are fairly easy to find. You just need to make a quick search in any of the engines with your phone. Whether it's good or bad, it's all there. However, small establishments like this one that tend to escape detection usually aren't in any public guides or recommendation websites. Most of them are below average, but every now and then a jewel pops up. It requires knowledge, but if you know what to look for, you can find high quality products for a cheap price. Owner!"

"Coming… Oh, it's you kid. What is it?"

"Give us six of your specialties."

"Aiyo."

"Here." He placed a couple coins onto the bar. "Don't worry, it's my treat. You'll love this."

The other five nodded mutely, and waited for a short period of time until the same old man from before came from the double door that came to the kitchen holding two trays. On each of them were three plates for a total of six, and in every plate there was…

"Scones?"

"Yep. These are the best scones in all of Academy City. I can guarantee its quality. Go on and taste them, you won't be disappointed."

Shrugging, each took a plate and walked outside again. Tanaka, Sasaki and Kuenai immediately went to the three guys from before without even tasting theirs. On the contrary, Miyara and Hoshimoto brought one to their mouths.

"Wow!"

"This is delicious!"

"Right, right?"

"Once you have tried these, you can never go back to the normal ones!"

The thugs bragged and laughed. So the reason they met here was because of the scones. It was… unexpected.

At one side, excited voices were heard.

"Wooaah! What's with all those feathers?!"

"The backstory of the video is that some dwarf kidnaps some girls and has them in a cage to make them sing for him. See? The other dancers are also dressed as birds. The lyrics talk about how they want to be free to sing to whoever they want. At the end, the music is so beautiful that the cage betrays the owner and opens because it can't bear to keep it to itself. It's a beautiful symbolism."

"Oooohh… That dress is so cute!"

"Isn't it? She had some feathers in her cap before, but this time it's the main motif. Ah, see now? See the light in the background? Pay attention to its shape."

"Ooooh… Wings! They're wings!"

"Hahaha, we were also impressed the first time we saw it. The idea is that the freed girls fly off and go find the person they want to sing for."

"Uuuuuh… Sniff, sniff… How moving…"

"Arisa-chaaaaaan!"

Miyara turned his eyes aside so as not to see the slightly inelegant act her girlfriend was showing, and turned his attention to a closer conversation between their guide and some of his friends. Incidentally, his plate was already empty, but he didn't notice.

"How'd you end up as cicerone, Boss? Didn't you have a job with those beautiful nee-sans?"

"Oh, nothing much. The Boss asked me for a favor, and I needed an excuse to get away from the flat for a while, so I said yes."

"Tch. Look at him, now he needs excuses to have free time because he's always busy, not only with his girlfriend, but with those other girls."

"Must be nice to have such luxurious problems."

"Try saying that after being forced to watch seventeen B-movies in a row! I wasn't able to sleep at all in three days!"

"Shut up! That just sounds to me like "I spend three days in a dark room alone with a cute girl"!"

"Riajuus should explode…"

Before their playful banter could get out of hand, Miyara intervened to ask something that had been bugging him.

"Can I ask you something? How did you meet him?"

"You mean Boss?" Hamazura turned to regard the speaker. "Speaking of which, you're outsiders. How'd you know him?"

"We're, uh, we come from the same town."

"Oh! No wonder, so you're childhood friends!"

"I wouldn't call it that, exactly… But it's close enough. But I'm curious, Kamijou doesn't seem like the kind of person who-"

"Pfffffftttttt!"

One of the guys who had been listening with interest to their exchange suddenly spat out the milk he had been drinking.

"Calm down, man. What's wrong?"

"Cough, cough. K-Kamijou? Do you actually mean Kamijou Touma?"

"Yes? What about him?"

"What?!" He turned to Hamazura. The rest of the guys who had been going on about their business heard the commotion and came to check. "Your Boss, the one you're always talking about, is actually _the_ Kamijou Touma?!"

"Yes? Your breathing's kinda rough, man. Get a hold of yourself."

"Holy shit. This is huge! Why are you so calm, boss? Why did you never mention it before?!"

"What are you so excited for?"

"You mean you never heard the rumors?" Another of the thugs who approached managed to pick his jaw from the floor and talk.

"What rumors?"

"They say he's crazy strong. That he can defeat anyone with a single punch, and that he never loses a fight."

"I heard that he took down the Black Lizard gang by himself in a single afternoon."

"There was another rumor that he was seen taking down groups of espers like they were nothing."

"Yeah, a friend of a friend saw him defeat a Level 4 in a single stroke in passing while carrying a lot of grocery bags with the other."

"I read somewhere that he's so good at seducing women that no matter age, social position, occupation or preferences, they all fall for him."

""""""""Gulp.""""""""

As one, completely as one, all the delinquents turned to Hamazura Shiage for either confirmation, or the relief of knowing that all those stories were exaggerated. They were rumors, after all, so things tended to blow out of scale and the sliver of truth ended buried.

"Well… I can't really talk that much about his fighting ability… I mean, sure, we fought both together and against each other, but there were always pressing circumstances and I was desperate, so I don't think I can tell that much with accuracy.

But, when it comes to the ladies… Heh." He looked at each of his listeners, as they held their breath. "Let me tell you a little story."

Dramatic Narrator Hamazura took some steps back and sat down on the stairs, and the rest of boys took the chance to surround him, listening to each of his words with enraptured attention.

"He was just back in the city. From what I understood, he had worried some chick and had to apologize for being out of town without informing."

"What happened to him?"

"I don't know, but it was shortly after WWIII. I was also out of town during the time. Nasty stuff. Anyway, it seemed that it was hard to do, so I thought, hey, might as well give him a little helping hand. I got him some booze. Nothing too strong, and he didn't even drink that much, but he was smashed in a flash." By this point he lowered his head and looked at his hands. "Ten minutes. I swear it was no longer than ten minutes. Maybe even less. Me and another guy who was with us lost sight of him. And the next thing we knew, _they were there_."

The tension was palpable in the secluded corner of the plaza. Finally, the one who folded under the tension and asked was none other than Tanaka, who had approached with the other guys with the video a while ago.

"W-What was?"

" _Breasts._ "

""""""""?!""""""""

Sharp breaths could be heard everywhere, such was the impact of that single word.

Shiage slowly covered his face with his hands, before gathering enough resolve to continue recounting his experiences.

"There were ten… No, at least twelve. They had to be D-cup at least… And there were even two that passed the F mark, maybe more. I'm not sure…

As for actual girls, around ten or so? I can't remember…"

One of the guys sat by his side and put a hand of his shoulder, expressing his support, helping the heroic blond man gather enough presence of mind to continue talking.

"I didn't really bother keeping count. He was buried in women… I never saw anything similar."

After a few moments of reflection, the first voices could be heard.

"S-So, the rumors weren't exaggerating…"

"I-Incredible…"

"A-And, that's not counting that girl he had to apologize to, right?"

""""""""What a monster…""""""""

As for the group of five, they looked at each other.

 _Ding!_

 _Congratulations! Your Kamijou's status has gone up!_

 _Gang leader -_ _Underworld legend_

* * *

And what had happened to Kamijou in the meanwhile?

After separating from the band, he had headed straight home. When he arrived, Index was playing (like usual), but to his surprise Othinus was, too.

During lunch time, Index had come wandering to the school in search of food, and he had given her the god so she could carry her on the way back, which explained her presence in the house. She had left a note on the table explaining that she had found something interesting to investigate, and (in a gesture that brought him to the brink of tears) she promised to do her best not to kill everyone who irritated her.

Frankly speaking, it worked for him, too. Normally they would play together in the afternoon, but he preferred that she wasn't present when he met with Kanzaki. After all, she was one of the people sent to hunt her, and there was no doubt that the Saint considered the Goddess a threat, so it was bound to become an awkward reunion that was better avoided for as long as possible.

So, at the moment he found himself walking towards the church, alone. After a few minutes of walking, the building came into view.

Today there was a single cue of people waiting to receive the blessing, and the one on duty was Lena. A bit to the side, Nora, Kaya and Alex were chatting.

Due to his daily routine, he had grasped a few things regarding the duty distribution. Except for days with a vast influx of people, Helen stayed inside the building, while the novices were the ones in charge of attending the exterior. Of these, Golden Rolls Henrietta was the one less likely to be working, probably due to her status and being busy in her father's residence. From the remaining five, one of them was usually indoors, accompanying the priestess. And finally, at least one of the other four would be working with the cues, more if there were a lot of people, while the ones who didn't have duty would keep her or them company and chat.

Thinking about various things, he approached the trio of girls.

"What's up?"

"Hmph!"

Nora turned her face to the side and pouted. In response, Touma tilted his head and asked:

"I don't remember doing anything to upset her this time? It's cute so I won't complain though."

"C-Cute…"

"The same strategy, uh… Whatever. Hey, hey. Do you want to know why she's like this? Do you wanna know? Hey, do you want?"

"Where in the world did you meet a woman like her?"

Kaya was being her usual over-energetic self, but before he had the chance to become irritated Alex's sharp question cut in.

"Who?"

"Some incredibly beautiful woman came before and talked to us. She mentioned you. And according to Retta, she even sent a note in advance requesting for you, specifically."

"Huh? The note said at five. I should still have more than half an hour, though, so what's she doing here already?"

"K-Kamijou-san? W-What happens at five?"

Nora looked at him with upturned and slightly teary eyes, but Kamijou's response was merciless.

"She asked to meet me for something. I dunno for why."

Nora paled. Kaya took the chance to make a comeback and become the center of attention and bounced from behind.

"A date! She came from afar to ask you for a date!"

"As if! Don't go misunderstanding things, moron!"

"Hey." Alex passed an arm over his shoulder and made him crouch a bit. "I'm telling this for your own good. I don't know what kind of relationship you have with her, but she's too good for you. So just give up and settle with Nora- oww!"

"Serves you right!"

Nora stood behind them, with her face burning and her leg with which she had kicked her fellow novice's butt still raised.

Kaya was already had her mouth open to no doubt spout some other outrageous delusion, but before she had the chance, another voice sounded.

"Kamijou Touma."

The voice was young, but undoubtedly more mature than any of the novice's. When the boy and the three girls turned around, they saw a woman step out from the door of the church. She had long, black hair tied up in a ponytail, and she wore a short white T-shirt tied with a knot at the bottom that revealed her navel. Finally, she sported jeans. How had she obtained jeans in this new world was beyond the analytical powers of a high school student's mind.

The one of less than twenty Saints in the world smiled at him.

"Long time no see."

* * *

 **Aaaand cut! I have to apologize. The other two characters I promised didn't get a turn this chapter, but they should be at the very beginning of the next. It's the fault of that five-man band whose scenes kept dragging and dragging. You'll be seeing more of them, at least until the week they have with a free pass is over. It took me forever to come up with their names.**

 **Not much else to say down here. This time the action is above.**

 **See ya!**

* * *

 **OMAKE**

 _Ding!_

 _Congratulations! Your Kamijou's status has gone up!_

 _Banchou - Urabanchou_

"They say he's defeated the urabanchou of Nagatenjouki, and that he has both the banchou and urabanchou of Tokiwadai eating from his palm."

"Whoever beats him will gain fame and power, but not many have that kind of courage."

"And his name is..."

""WHITE T POISON!""

"But wait a second, nya. Kami-yan never wears a white t-shirt."

"I remember him wearing white."

"That was his uniform, and it's a shirt, not a t-shirt. And the other white cloth was his hoodie."

"Then what kind of t-shirt does he wear?"

"Mmhm, there was that orange one with red lines."

"Fine then, Orange with red lines T Poison. ...Somehow, it lacks impact."

"Yeah, who'd fear a checkered fruit?"

"What are you guys up to?"

"Kami-yan, your sense of fashion is so terrible, you can't even get a decent urabanchou nickname."

"?"


	17. Chapter 16 - Ride

**Hey there!**

 **I'm back! ...Is what I should say, probably, but I just checked and the last chapter came out just after NT18, and this one is coming right after NT19, so I'm actually going at Kamachi's pace. Ha. Just try and rebuke that.**

 **But seriously, I had summer holidays, work, and after that the new semester began, so it took a while to acclimate again. Now, a short quiz. What prevented me from writing during holiday? A) Extended sleeping sessions, B) Persona 5, C) A &B are correct, D) none of the above. You get three chances and the first two don't count.**

 **Welp, enough excuses. I should talk about NT19 here, but I haven't found the time to finish it yet. Will probably do so this weekend, so not much to tell in that respect. Let's jump directly to answering comments.**

 **MrQuestionMark: Always a pleasure to read your extended reviews. Calling this one of the best fics is high praise, there's still a long road to go.**

 **Dragonskyt: We shall raise, my friend, and sweep the people above, who laugh scornfully from their thrones of reviews, favorites and follows... all in due time.**

 **Guest: 1. Not really? I don't think so. Either way, their stance will probably become clearer the coming chapters. 2. I'll probably drop hints here and there, like "brown-haired boy" or "blue-eyed girl", but I'm not that fond of attaching a paragraph of 5 lines every time someone is introduced just to give an image. I prefer to let mention some key facts, either physical or psychological, and let the readers fill the gaps.**

 **Shikaku Zetsumei: Thanks for the advice. I'll try to keep it in mind. Normally, in Japanese novels every character usually has some cue or particular way of speaking that makes it easy to keep track off. Still, most of the time I try to use this resource is to give voice to a crowd, in this case, the class and the delinquets later, so whether or not you can follow who speaks each and every line isn't as important as knowing that someone from the collective said it. Though, sometimes a certain character it's easy to spot, especially when it's talking sense amidst a bunch of nonsense (like Fukiyose, or Fukiyose, or Fukiyose).**

 **The Ultimate Impulse: I am sorry, but I cannot confirm or deny anything.**

 **Guest and Chaoshadows 0: Ask and ye shall receive. I'm not confirming when.**

 **Speaking of which... Remember how last chapter, when I said that maybe next time I'd pray for Index III... Uuuh... Well... Yeah, that happened... Y'know what? I'll pray for money next time. If I confirm that it works, I'm making this after-comments section right here my personal shrine.**

 **That's all for now. I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 16 - Ride

Kamijou studied with a wary eye the other two passengers. One of them was a man in his twenties, dressed in the obligatory novice garb due to what he suspected was lack of motivation to find anything else rather than incapability to do so. He had a neutral expression, and his eyes had been trained on him since he arrived, observing him in turn. Despite not showing any emotions with his face, he still managed to convey a sense of reluctance and even exasperation that made the high school boy wonder why was he even there.

The other was a young girl, probably a year or two younger than him, with blond hair and blue eyes. Unlike the man, she wasn't looking at him, contenting herself with sneaking peeks in his general direction from time to time, grinning and giggling whenever she did so.

"I'll present you." introduced Kanzaki Kaori from the seat to his left. "This is-"

"Boy."

The man interrupted the Saint, with the grave voice that was usually reserved for serious topics like politics, economy and bikini-vs-one-pieces debates.

"What do you think of jeans?"

"Ah, um. You mean those sexy blue trousers with one leg longer than the other…?"

"Kanzakiiiiiiii! Why the hell are you corrupting the youth with those badly cut trousers!? You already destroy enough jeans on your own for your so-called Amakusa rituals, and now you also want to taint their image in the hearts of the innocent?! Go use your Saint powers to evangelize the people to the wonders of bare midriffs or something and leave my poor babies alone!"

It took a while to mend the broken heart of a frustrated business owner, until his stress levels went down enough to allow him to slip from righteous rage to reluctant ignorance of reality. When he started looking out the window and mumbling to himself in a low voice, Kamijou took the chance to ask the exhausted Saint a question.

"Kanzaki-san, Kanzaki-san. What's with that girl?"

"What's wrong?"

"Well, she doesn't stop looking at me when she thinks I don't notice and she starts laughing to herself. It's creepy."

"Ugh!? I-I mean… Ahem, ahem."

The young girl coughed twice to hide her moment of weakness, and then turned to him.

"Before you came, I asked Kanzaki-san, but I will confirm just in case. Do you have any kind of magical prowess?"

Touma shook his head, regarding her with curiosity.

"Right. Then, how about magical knowledge? Do you know things like myths, history, legends or other similar stuff?"

Again, he shook his head.

"I thought so." She muttered. Then, she puffed her chest and adopted a haughty tone. "Listen here, rookie! I know that you might feel frustrated that you have no real power or fighting strength, and that at times it will be difficult to keep up with the true specialists. But worry not! To tell you the truth, I can only use some very basic magic myself! I am also someone who acts as support, and I am a veteran who has been in more missions than you. Therefore, I am your senior!"

"I… see…?"

The boy tilted his head, but the confusion did nothing to stop the explosion of pride that the blond girl had erupted into.

"So! First things first. We still have three days until we reach our destination, and I will be using that time to instruct you about our job! As fellow supporters, we have to get along. Mmhm." She gave a self-assured nod and crossed her arms. "Now! We'll begin with a few basic questions to see what kind of experience you have. Kanzaki chose you personally, so we have high hopes for you! And I'm sure that with a few weeks, you will also be able to do some basic magic to better help yourself, like identifying poison, removing traps or sending messages. Of course, I will be helping you to improve in everything else, like situational judgment and your concealing and fleeing abilities. You'll be an expert supporter in no time at all! It's okay, it's okay. No need to thank me. Just leave it to your senior!"

After her enthusiastic speech, the blonde girl backed down on her seat, examining him from head to toe with a judging eye.

"Mhmm… Since you were accepted into Necessarius, I assume you have a minimum number of abilities, but still, you must be very good to climb all the way here to Kanzaki's team without any magic whatsoever. Anybody would have received a couple tips here and there by now. Alright, tell me. What's your usual response when you're faced with an unknown magic circle?"

"Errr…"

Kamijou looked around, but the Saint was looking outside, so her expression was invisible. In contrast, the man was now also paying attention to him.

"I usually, uh… touch it, and it disappears on its own."

"…"

The young girl silently regarded him for a few moments, before she sighed.

"Alright. Everybody has his secrets. I understand that you may be reluctant to explain your methods, but we're working as a team this time, so be aware that we'll know sooner or later. Also, next time you're trying to evade a question, it may be good for you to give a more believable answer. Everybody knows that outright destroying a magic circle is plain dumb. It could be a trap, it could alert the enemy of your position, and it could just up and explode in your face."

The boy just looked at her owlishly, without blinking. At his side, Kanzaki still looked outside, but the boy could have sworn her shoulders were faintly shaking.

"If rune dismantling is your area of expertise, how about I ask you about combat? What would you do if an enemy magician caught you unaware? Fleeing and life-preserving methods are totally A-ok, too! As supporters, we have to be able to at least escape by ourselves, since fighting isn't really our main strength."

Yeah. Her shoulders were definitely shaking. Putting aside the Mystery of the Quivering Saint for a moment, the spiky-haired boy made a confident expression. He knew the answer to that one.

He raised his fist, stared at her seriously, and proclaimed: "I would punch him."

"…"

The girl shook her head sadly, not saying anything for a couple seconds. When she addressed him again, her tone had become lower and her voice harsher.

"I don't think you understand, rookie. I don't know how you've done things in the past, but right now you're part of a Saint's team. Got it? One of the less than twenty in the world. If we're to draw a comparison to normal people's sensibilities, dispatching her is the equivalent to sending out a nuclear bomb. If you're going to be working with us, you need to get in your head that the enemies you're going to be facing are in a different league than the ones you are used to. We may have to fight against crazy people like a girl who can create tsunamis with her blood, a rogue prison ship chock-full of bloodthirsty magical escapees, or a Valkyrie-Saint hybrid with a spear that can control the weather and cause lightning storms and volcanic eruptions as easily as waving her arm."

"Oh, I get you." Answered the spiky-haired boy. "Or like an angel whose every spell can destroy half the planet, a revolutionary princess who can fight against a whole army by herself, a magician who has an arm that lets him pick "I WIN" as a command against whoever he fights and controls a floating fortress, or a Magic God that can casually destroy the world."

"Kanzaki, Kanzaki. What's wrong with this guy? I thought he was just a rookie, so why is he enumerating that kind of terrifying line-up of once-in-a-century threats with a nonchalant look?!"

"Better give up trying to talk to her for now." Pipped in the man, who sat just in front of the Saint and could as such look at her profile. "She's been laughing her ass off for the pass minute."

"What?!"

Kamijou was forced to wait until Kanzaki calmed down enough that she could stop laughing, and observed with confusion how the other two passengers regarded warily at the woman, one curious and the other sulking.

"So, mind explaining what this was all about?"

"That's what you get for not waiting until I finished the introductions! This is payback for never listening to me!"

"So it was a grudge? Anyway, what's the deal with him? I can't sense any mana from him, but he seems confident in his own capabilities. We trust you, but you'll have to explain to us how exactly what makes him qualify for this job."

Not that I care, was what Touma heard him mumble in a low voice.

The teenager looked around, and decided he had had enough of being passive and being swept by the flow (he was unable to recognize that particular trait formed about 60% of his personality), so he decided to actively intervene. Firstly, he had gone long enough without introducing himself. The other two hadn't done so either, so he might as well put in the effort.

"I believe we haven't been introduced yet. My name is Kamijou Touma, it's nice to meet you."

What he didn't expect was the reaction of his two interlocutors. The man let out a loud "WHAT!", while the girl merely let her jaw drop to the floor. After a second of gaping, the two magicians directed a barrage of questions his way.

"Is the rumor that you are actually a demon that has come to the world to bring destruction wherever you go actually true?!"

"Are you the one who stole Kanzki's heart-gafuhhh."

"Is it true that you provoked the war with the Roman because you went out of your way to destroy all their most important spells and spiritual items in just a few months?!"

"Have you ever seen Kanzaki here wear the legendary Fallen Angel Ero Ma-hupaahhhhh."

"Do you really attack every magician that crosses your path and pummel them again and again and again until they are so afraid that they can never dream of opposing you?!"

"Did you know that our Saint whispers your name from time to ti-agaahhhhh."

"Do you really have more than a hundred lovers in every ci-hyaaaaaaa?!"

The man's face had been beaten black and blue, so when the young girl started to make stupid questions of her own Kanzaki switched to dangling her through the window and shaking her at supersonic speeds until her eyes were spinning. Meanwhile, Kamijou's sensible heart couldn't endure the violence and he ended up covering his eyes with his hands and curling into a ball on his seat to try and not be dragged into the rampage.

Sometime later, after everybody had calmed down, the teenager and the two magicians faced each other awkwardly. Touma sent the older girl a pleading look, and she snorted.

"That's a jean shop owner. And that's a tour guide."

"Hey, hey. I know you're still mad, but you can't just simply introduce someone by their jobs. I have a proper name."

"That's right! Honestly, how can you lose your composure like that? You need to be more mature and have more dignity!"

The Saint, the Jeans Shop Owner and even Kamijou looked pointedly at the girl, who blushed and squirmed in her seat, until she succumbed to the pressure and apologized.

"So… Hum. As you can imagine, we have heard of you." The man said, nodding at him. "Kanzaki herself told some stories, but mostly rumors. Sorry you had to see that."

"No, no, I don't mind." Kamijou answered politely. Even if he looked like one, had the grades of one and, more importantly, the attendance record of one, he was not a delinquent. He could be polite when it was pertinent, like when he was being addressed by an older person. "Still, aren't those stories very exaggerated? I never caused any war on purpose, and neither have I any lover."

"Ah… I knew it." She nodded along, lowering her head. "I guess rumors do tend to fly out of hand. I guess something like actually taking Fiamma of the Right on a one-on-one and never taking a step back or sinking a magical fleet in the span of a night were imaginations people made because they sounded exciting."

"Ah, that actually kind of happened."

"Eh?!"

"Still, we owe you an apology then, no?"

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

The Jeans Shop Owner looked pointedly at the girl, who had managed to recover her composure but couldn't quite grasp what was being asked of her. At least, until she flushed and shrunk even more onto her seat.

"…I'm sorry I thought you were an amateur when you had so much more experience than me. Please accept my most sincere apologies."

She said that at the same time as she bowed her head.

Naturally, Kamijou flustered.

"It's fine, you don't need to bow your head. You had no way of knowing." Seeing that her manner didn't change, he let out a rueful chuckle. "To tell you the truth, you weren't completely wrong. I'm actually an amateur when it comes to magic. Even worse than that, probably."

"…That can't be. You don't need to be modest for my sake."

It seemed she was not recovering. In fact, his consideration seemed to bring her further down. He sighed.

"No, really. I don't know the ABC when it comes to magic. I mean, sure, I picked up a couple things here and there after everything that happened, but I have never had training of any kind. And I wasn't lying or withholding information to you either. This right hand" he said, bringing it up to the front of his eyes "is all I have. It negates magic, so I never really needed to bother learning magic circles or whatnot. Just a simple touch, and they crumbled. But a lot of the things you said were very useful. In fact, I think it happened to me once."

"R-Really? To someone like you?"

"What's that "someone like you" supposed to mean? Anyway, yeah. I think it was a bit before the Daihaseisai. I touched a circle without thinking about it and we got in trouble. Stiyl got pissed." He rubbed behind his neck with a hand and laughed. "So, you have already taught me. You're the one with experience, so I'll be in your hands, senpai."

"Senpai?"

"You don't know what it means?" He asked, before he saw the logic. She wasn't from the Amakusa, it was expected she wouldn't know Japanese terms. "It means something like senior."

She eyed him suspiciously, not quite buying it, but sat straight nonetheless. However, Kamijou saw that her shoulders were still tense.

"Hey."

He lowered his head forward, until he could look her directly in the eyes.

"I am no good with poisons. I can't send any message without using my phone or e-mail. And I am hopeless when it comes to magic circles and runes. You're the one with experience, I'll be counting on you when the time comes." He brought his hand forward and patted her arm, and smiled. "So cheer up, ok?"

When he drew back to a proper sitting posture, he checked her shoulders again. Good. Her tension was gone. However, she seemed to be musing over something.

"I can't accept that." She decided, after a bit of deliberation.

"Huh?"

"Even if all you've said is true, you still have more experience than me in the field."

"Like I said-"

"No." She cut him off. "If even half of what I heard from Kanzaki is true, that is more than enough to see you're obviously the more experienced one. I'll still help with anything you struggle with, but your input will be more consistent and trustable than mine. I look forward to working with you… Kamijou-senpai!"

* * *

Meanwhile, a girl with a quiet atmosphere abruptly stopped her arms, leaving the half-eaten burger in her hands hanging in mid-air. Then she scowled.

"A kouhai character this time? Tch. How does he do it? That one hasn't appeared even in canon."

* * *

And somewhere else, a blue-haired young man raged.

"Kami-yaaaaan! What the hell?! A foreigner kouhai? How does that even work?! Isn't that an oxymoron in itself?! Foreigners don't have kouhais! Until when do you intend to continue twisting the tropes that we all have devoted ourselves for centuries?!"

* * *

The Tour Guide, receiving the gazes of all people in the carriage, tilted her head.

"Isn't that how the word is used? I thought they were attached at the end of the family name, like what Kanzaki uses, but was I mistaken?"

"No, actually…"

Kanzaki sighed, and then turned to regard the boy, with a difficult expression marring her features.

"How do you even… You met her today, and yet…"

"Indeed." Nodded the Jeans Shop Owner, with is eyes closed and a sage-like expression. "It is certainly a talent for a boy to make a girl acknowledge in their first meeting that it is he who has more experience."

"…You're not thinking anything strange, are you? Don't do it. At the end of that path lies misfortune."

"I see."

The man threw a not-so-subtle look in Kanzaki's direction, who smiled that scary Japanese smile and cracked her knuckles. He shuddered.

"Anyway, you work with Kanzaki-san, right?"

The timely voice of the boy distracted the monster in the body of a woman, and he breathed a sigh of relief as the conversation continued. The Tour Guide answered.

"Yes, but not in every mission, only from time to time. I only work with her some of the time. That guy over there has gone on more missions than me, though."

"You mean I've been dragged against my will more times than you." Mumbled the alluded under his breath. He seemed irritated, but perked up when Kamijou innocently asked what kind of things they had done in the past.

"Hmm, hmm. Yes, we have been bonded for quite some time now. We have tried a lot of different things. Indeed, you could say Kanzaki and I have a lot of experience together."

"Fighting! And scouting! We have done a lot of fighting and scouting! We don't have "that" kind of experience! At all! Why are you saying things in that way!?"

"Well, calm down. For example, there was this one time when we were facing against a Valkirie."

"You mean that girl in armor and a feathered hat?"

"Where's your sense of romance? No. She wore bikini armor."

"Uoh?!"

"In fact, she could compete with our Saint here in terms of lewdness."

"Gulp."

Kamijou turned to regard Kanzaki, no doubt forming an image in his mind of the Saint wearing Bikini Armor.

"Fallen Angel Ero Maid: Knight Model."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Averting his eyes from the smiling swordswoman, he turned to the Jeans Shop Owner once more, intent of changing the topic of interest. However… it wasn't over!

"Ah, she was truly a tough enemy to face. Even I fell prey to her techniques immediately."

"What kind of technique was it?"

The older man looked him in the eye, before replying, very slowly:

"A seduction technique."

"!"

High School Kamijou waited with bated breath for more explanations. His senior spoke with intention, but also with tenderness, as if recalling a good but distant dream.

"Her armor had cow patterns. Especially her breasts, they sucked your eyes in. And once you did… You couldn't take your eyes from them, no matter how hard you tried. It was that kind of terrifying technique."

Both men stayed silent, before impressionable teenager Touma spoke with emotion.

"It must have been a tough fight."

The Jeans Shop Owner nodded.

He intended to explain a bit more, but a Saintly Gaze pressed him from the side, causing a Saintly Chill to go down his spine and hurriedly change subject.

"T-There was also an occasion where we had to stop an extreme environmentalist that wanted to preserve some ruins from acid rain and was trying to destroy a bunch of factories."

"I see. How did that go down?"

"Well, it was an area with frequent precipitations and a lot of fog, so when you paired that with Kanzaki's usual attire, you could see how her shirt transp-!"

Saintly Glare was back, now better and deadlier. The Jeans Shop Owner had to reassure himself that there wasn't any miracle that the Son of God had performed by looking at someone and that Kanzaki couldn't, in actual fact, do something as absurd as shooting lasers or causing spontaneous combustion with the force of her eyes alone. Meanwhile, Kamijou gave him a sympathetic look and leaned back.

"Come to think of it, we also worked together once, during Angell Fall." He said, casually bringing his hands behind his head. The Tour Guide timidly raised her hand.

"Um… What's Angel Fall?"

"It's an incident that happened during August. It was a large-scale incident, but most magicians are unaware of it precisely because it encompassed such a large area of effect."

"And how do you know?" Shot Kanzaki, eyeing him with suspicion.

The man just shrugged his shoulders.

"My shop is protected with a bunch of wards. One of them just happened to have anti-angelic properties."

(Just how high would he rank if he was still active, really…)

He said it readily, but an anti-angelic ward wasn't such an easy thing to create. It required a very high amount of knowledge, time and skill. Further, Kanzaki and Tsuchimikado were partially spared thanks to perchance being in Windsor Castle at the time, one of the most magically secure locations in the world. And even then, she had needed to rely on her Saint's physique and Tsuchimikado on one of his barriers, before they were safe. What all this had to say about the kind of defense that "bunch of wards" actually provided was astonishing.

"Well, yeah. Crazy day that was. My mom became a 14-year old girl."

"Your what?!"

"The spell changed the appearances of people. It had to do with the "displacement" that the arrival of an Angel in the human world has, but the details include a bunch of technicalities that I'm in no mood to discuss so we'll skip that part."

The Jeans Shop Owner gave a fed up sigh at the frantic questions of the Tour Guide, who looked more confused by the moment.

"How come I didn't notice, then?"

"Because," interjected Kanzaki, "it affected almost every single person on the planet. To escape its effects you'll either need a very secure magical defense on the level of St. Peter's Basilica or incredible skills, and preferably a combination of both. I doubt more than a hundred people around the world managed to detect it."

The blonde girl looked around herself. The older man who was showing an annoyed face that was shouting to the heavens how much of a bother it all had been. The teenager boy who was looking at her with a kind smile that tried to convey that he, same as her, also found the entire affair ridiculous and nonsensical. The Saint who was maintaining her usual neutral expression that conveyed that business carried on as usual. Lastly, she looked to the slightly dirty roof of the carriage and let her frustrations explode.

"WHYYYYYY! This was supposed to be my chance to finally graduate from the greenhorn role, but I am already being left behind at the first case the new guy talks about! AAAAH! And now even the supposedly naïve newcomer is looking down on me!"

"So? What were you going to say?"

Completely ignoring the despairing junior at his side, the Jeans Shop Owner tried to make Kamijou go back to the conversation. The boy gave a last sympathetic gaze at the girl, having been in her same position as the most uninformed in a group most times that he could remember, but he still easily picked up where he left off.

"Right, right. So, I was out of Academy City. Due to certain circumstances, I needed to take a vacation, so I took the chance to see my family again and we all went to a beach resort."

"Stop right there."

A raised hand cut the spiky-haired teen's speech. At the other end of the arm, the older man was fixing him with a piercing glare.

"You went to the beach. Is that what you're saying?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Then, when you were there, you met that Saint over there. Am I correct so far?"

"I think so."

"Mhmm." The senior idiot, with his stare still leveled at his junior, let loose the bomb. "Did you get to see Kanzaki in a swimsuit?"

"Bfugh?"

Kanzaki Kaori-san continued to demonstrate her miraculous powers by performing the supernatural feat of doing a spit-take without anything to spat. However, Kamijou's focus had been trained every morning during breakfast by means of sharing a table with Index and under the considerable risk of suffering from hunger the rest of the day, so he didn't let such minor matters bother him and brought a hand to his chin to answer.

"Hmm… No, I don't remember anything like that. But, she did ask me to stand guard in the mixed bath once, while she showered. The problem is, my mom saw me there, and since Kanzaki-san's outward appearance was a red-haired 2m-tall man, my mom forced me to enter the bath because dinner was almost ready, and, well…"

"Gufgh?!"

Seeing as how no one had reacted, Kanzaki-san did an encore of her previous performance, but Jeans Shop Owner the gentleman merely raised an eyebrow.

"So you saw her nude and still live? You must have quite the luck." He remarked, making lucky pervert Kamijou's to sigh. "But you're still too green!"

"W-What?!"

The sudden spike of volume made the Tour Guide, who had been dozing off after exhausting her reserve of energies during her previous outburst, to jump slightly in place. Meanwhile, Kanzaki was just trembling in place, swaying between anger and embarrassment.

The Jeans Shop Owner pointed directly at Touma.

"Your successes come from luck! You have yet to learn how to prepare ahead of time. The lucky pervert tactic will only get you so far! Let me give you an example. To tell the truth, we also had a mission in a beach once."

"Oh?"

Kamijou leaned forward, interested, and the older man nodded.

"Technically, it was a tropical island in Micronesia, but it works the same. Obviously, we had to blend in, either with the locals or with the tourists, or at the very least to appear as ones in the eyes of the other people, in order to conduct our investigation without drawing suspicion. The locals were dark-skinned, so the locals option was out. Therefore, we had to join the tourists. And there was only one type of tourism people would ever bother going to such a remote island to."

"…It can't be."

"Indeed. Beach Tourism." He grinned. "The clear water, the pristine sand, the calm sea… Anyway, I explained it all to Kanzaki. She understood the reasoning, of course, but by that point it was already too late. She hadn't brought a swimsuit with her. But luckily, I had prepared in advance and brought some with me. Truly, a flawless plan!"

"Ohhh!"

Kanzaki was starting to become red in the face remembering the experience. Meanwhile, the Jeans Shop Owner was raising his voice, and Kamijou, following the mood, got excited and started to speak louder too.

"And it was a monokini! In other words, it covered the front like a racing swimsuit, but left the back open. It worked pretty well because it covered enough skin, while being both not too plain and not too conspicuous, which made it perfect to remain unnoticed."

At the side, the black-haired maiden made a silent sigh in relief. She remembered fairly well the occasion, and that was indeed the reasoning the irritating man had first given to justify his choice. At least, it seemed he had enough good sense not to proclaim to the winds the most embarrassing bits.

Until her illusion suddenly crashed down.

"But it doesn't matter! Who cares about functionality! It was just like a naked apron!"

"Oooooohhh!"

"AHHHH! Stop! Kamijou Touma! Get that image out of your head!"

"And she didn't notice, but I took photos! How about it, boy! Do you want to see?!"

"I wanna see!"

"YOU WON'T SEE!"

It was at that point that the overexcited Kamijou noticed that Mood Swings Kanzaki (whose earlier embarrassment and anger, who had been battling for supremacy, decided that instead of fighting they would rule together; and created a red, slightly teary-eyed face that looked 100% out-of-character and 120% cute on the usually dignified girl) had one of her slender arms out the window and upwards, like she was searching for something.

"Hey, what's she looking for above?"

And then realization set in, and he froze. It had to be the Tour Guide who spelled it for him.

"Didn't she keep her sword up there because it was too long to fit inside…?"

"WAAAAAH! CALM DOWN KANZAKI! I PROMISE I WASN'T IMAGINING YOU IN A BLACK MONOPIECE WITH STRINGS AND FRILLS AND A EXPOSED BACK THAT HUGGED YOUR TITS AND- JBAGH?!"

" _TOO MUCH INFORMATION_!"

It took a good five minutes to convince the blushing Saint to let go of the sword, another ten to convince her that physically brawling at supersonic speeds wasn't the best idea on how to pass time inside a wooden horse cart, and then another half an hour to finally calm her down enough to actually placate the murderous intent (the firstborn child of Embarrassment and Anger, who had passed away peacefully after a long and prosperous rule) to finally relinquish its grab on the young maiden's heart.

At the end of the ordeal, all three non-saints aboard were lying flat on their seats.

"Come to think of it," Began the spiky-haired boy, without strength in his voice. "how long is this escaped of ours going to be? We've been speaking for some time now."

"Huh? We didn't tell you?"

The young girl sounded somewhat apologetic, but it couldn't be helped that they forgot to mention something so trivial amidst the introduction chaos.

"Originally, it should take three days if everything went well."

"…Originally?"

"I'm using magic to speed things up." Explained Kanzaki. "I'm strengthening both the horses and the frame of the carriage, so we are moving at roughly three times the speed it is normally capable of."

"I see. What about the "if everything went well part?""

"That's if we are not attacked by monsters, of course." Interjected the Tour Guide this time. "Which, naturally, we won't. We have a Saint with us after all. What?"

Kamijou's flat stare was very telling.

"We also have _me_ on board, so those odds just took a massive drop."

"Why are you saying that?"

"See this right hand?"

The boy, still sprawled, weakly moved his arm up and down. "It cancels everything supernatural. _Everything_. Including good things. Like luck."

"Wha- That's ridiculous! And even if it was true, Saints should have some of the stronger fates in the world!"

"There are less than twenty in the world, right? That makes them blessed with luck that can only befall 1 out of 350 thousand of millions. But as far as I'm aware, my right hand is unique, which makes my bad luck a 1 in 7 billions case. Take your bets."

"You science side people and your _mathematics_." Grumbled the girl under her breath after failing to find any proper counterargument.

"Still, it's my first time traveling outside of my starter town."

"Really?"

Point made, Touma proceeded to continue to do absolutely nothing, but it seemed he still was in a conversational mood. Kanzaki answered this time. Slightly more animated, the teenager made an effort to rise and sit properly on his butt instead of his back like any other civilized being.

"Well, yeah. I didn't even know that people used horses."

"How did you think they moved about, then?"

"I don't know. Walking." He shrugged. "There was also that blessing of the desert thing."

"Hu." In stark contrast with her earlier disheveled impression, Kanzaki hummed reflexively. "It makes sense. This carriage system shouldn't have been introduced yet. It was supposed to be publicized sometime starting next week, so I guess you're getting an early taste." She smiled at him.

"Figures. I suppose we couldn't spend all the time playing in the same place. The game is definitely impressive the first times one plays, but the novelty will wear off in a month at best. Were the carriages already available in other cities?"

"Technically no, but the Anglican Church's influence is large. It has connections with a lot of the local authorities across the region." Seeing the confused look on her interlocutor's face, she explained in more detail. "It isn't really noticeable here, in the Desert Kingdom, because all the espers appeared in the region, so it's considered Science territory. Unofficially, that is. But the kingdoms in the Central Region are already beginning to be integrated into our sphere of influence, and the northernmost cities of the Desert, which are the closest to the borders, also have dealings with us. We departed from there this time."

"Wow. That's fast."

"Not as much as you think. Our diplomats already made contact before the game was released to the public, and the cooperation also benefited significantly with our cooperation."

"How so?"

"War potential." Snorted the Jeans Shop Owner, making a gesture in Kanzaki's general direction. "They have nothing that could hope to contend with, say, a Saint. They know that, and the other countries they were at odds with also know it. Imagine the advantage that could give going to war knowing that you have relations with an unstoppable force that the enemy can never hope to match. Most enemies will prefer to avoid conflict and engage in diplomacy and trade whenever possible, which gives the one related to us a significant advantage during negotiations."

Kamijou tilted his head. He wasn't an expert in politics by any means, but…

"If a warring nation had that kind of advantage over the others, wouldn't they have invaded by now? I didn't see any mentions of war in any forums."

"They would have, if the enemy didn't have a similar card up their sleeves."

And just like that, everything fell into place.

"So every Church supports a different country?"

"Exactly. You catch on quick, boy. It's somewhat unromantic, but I guess the power balance is something shared across worlds."

"Obviously, it isn't exactly the same as in our world." Kanzaki resumed her explanation. "In reality, you need to consider the geography, politics, history, tradition, and a lot of other factors to truly get a picture of the power of a given faction. Here, only the number of effectives and their power as individuals and as a group is measured, so it's somewhat easier to understand. Obviously, you also need to consider the geography of this world, but overall the scheme has changed a bit."

"You lost me."

"Fine." Putting her index to her forehead and closing her eyes, the Saint thought for a bit before looking at him again. "Right. Think about it this way. In Earth, the Anglican Church is strongest in the UK, which is in Europe. However, its influence doesn't extent across the continent, which is the Romans' domain, but rather Canada, Central America, some parts of South Africa, Australia, and some countries in the South of Asia. Why? Wouldn't it make more sense to think that they would expand their views through France first, since they're closest?"

"Weren't France and the UK enemies?"

"Precisely. And that is exactly the influence of history I was talking about. It's the same reason as to why the British Commonwealth is so disjointed. They were originally territories that the rulers of the time colonized, and the religion just followed.

However, all of that doesn't apply in this new world, so the areas of influence are all very regular for each church. You could color them on a map without having to raise your pencil. At the same time, the distribution of each power on the map reflects better the political alignments. For example, the Anglicans are the closest group to the Science territory, since among the Magic side groups we're the ones with the more relation."

"O-Oh, I see…"

"Each Church, however, has its specialties, so its value in the eyes of the local communities differs. Since war is what they're most interested in, we Anglicans are being specially sought after because of Necessarius, since we're the best when it comes to interpersonal combat. The Roman Catholics are also pulling through thanks to sheer numbers. In contrast, some of the other major Christian denominations don't hold that much sway as they would in the real world."

"Hold on. What about the Russians? Weren't they also very important?"

"Ah… The political influence of the Russians is one of the cases where it's smaller here than in the real world, since they're power came from the vast land they ruled and not so much because of numbers of believers. However, they're a bit of a special case due to Annihilatus, which specializes in magical creatures hunting. You'll probably meet them sooner or later even without seeking them out."

"Ah, understood."

Very, very discretely, Kamijou used his foot to nudge the leg of the Tour Guide.

(Hey. Since when did Kanzaki pick a fondness for teaching? Is she getting bad habits form someone?)

(How am I supposed to know? This is the most I have ever heard her speak in a single tirade! Did something happen to cheer her up? She seems to be in high spirits.)

(Really? What could it be?)

(You have to ask?)

The voice of the JeansShop Owner, which came in a slightly stronger whisper, was heard by Kanzaki who was still explaining, and she abruptly cut herself off after realizing she had lost herself. Coughing once to try and hide her embarrassment at getting carried away (something that seemed to be happening an awful lot in the past hours), she spied the strange, almost exasperated look the older man was giving the unlucky teenager and attempted to change topics.

"A-Anyway, now you have a general idea of what kind of people you can meet depending on where you go. We will arrive at our destiny around this hour tomorrow, so you just need to connect again by then."

"Why the need to get rid of me so fast?" Before a flustered Kanzaki could begin to try to correct the slip of the tongue she had made, he hit his palm with his hand. "Ohh, I get it. It's my luck, right? If I'm not here, nothing will interfere with your good luck and you won't be attacked. But wait a second." He frowned as another question flashed through his mind. "Won't the carriage keep moving without me the moment I disconnect? Wouldn't I end up stranded in the middle of the forest alone next time I enter the game?"

Instead of Kanzaki, who was too busy feeling relieved that her remark wasn't interpreted as trying to kick him out, the Jeans Shop Owner answered instead.

"No, you would appear inside the carriage next time too, regardless of where is it. So you can board one in a city, disconnect, wait for a few days, then connect again and step down at the other side of the country."

"I guess that makes sense. If you had to be connected every minute you're traveling, it would suck away too much free time and you couldn't do any other activity. Nobody would play a game like that."

"Yes. But that's too boring, isn't it? There should be incentives to stay connected. Playing should be better than not playing, right?"

"Then how… Ah. The monster attacks?"

"Oho. You really do catch on quick." The older man gave a nod. "Not everyone has a Saint on their side to avoid unnecessary encounters. The coachman there has zero fighting strength, so the passengers are expected to defend themselves."

"Wha? Then if there's a monster attack when there aren't passengers connected, what happens to the coachman?"

"Nothing. They're blessed." Finally, Kanzaki was able to regain enough composure to join the conversation again. "In this country in particular, it's the blessing of the Goddess their worship. Monsters will ignore them as long as they don't attack first. However, in 90% of the cases, meeting monsters without combatants by your side means having to camp and wait for them to disperse, or even to turn around completely and go back."

"So, while it's possible to travel while disconnected relying on luck and hoping your carriage is not attacked, it's better to be in the game so you can react if anything happens." Summarized Kamijou, while crossing his arms. "Hmm. I'm missing something. The penalties?" The Jeans Shop Owner joined his index and thumb, making a circle with his fingers. "Ahh. Money, huh."

"Yep. The longest the distance, the more you pay. If the time extends beyond what was initially predicted, that needs to be paid, too. And if by chance you've bad luck and the coachman decides to turn around and go back, there's no refunding."

"That's right, but… It took me a while to understand the logic behind everything when it was explained to me. Why are you two so good at this?"

""Huh?""

Both males tilted their heads.

Kamijou appealed to rationale.

"It's game logic. Some mobile games are like that. Since there are tons of 'em in the market, they need some method to bait the users to play, so they present a task that is doable, but difficult to accomplish if you're not actively playing the game. And of course, there needs to be some price for even trying, since if you had infinite retries there'd be no point to the strategy in the first place."

The Jeans Shop Owner appealed to emotion.

"L-Leave me alone. Can't an old man have a hobby?"

""…""

Doing his best to ignore the female half of the group that were expressing with their eyes how disgusting it was to see an old man(?) (in his twenties) acting like a tsundere, he reclined himself in his seat and looked at Kamijou.

"W-Well? Any more questions? We've been doing nothing but explaining for a while now, so might as well go all the way."

"That wasn't my intention, really. I mean, I live surrounded by explanation characters, so let's wrap it and… No, wait. There's something else." The spiky-haired boy took a moment to organize his thoughts. "For a while now, you've referring to this reality as a "game", right?"

Taking the silence as an affirmative, he continued.

"In that case, why are you doing work for the Church? Isn't a game something one plays for fun?"

"Ahahaha…"

Kanzaki looked to the side, and the Jeans Shop Owner snorted.

"Technically speaking, these two are not obliged to work for the church."

"Yes. They Archbishop herself said that, in accordance with all the other world leaders who had participated in this project, they would not involve themselves."

The Tour Guide honored her name and explained in a concise manner.

"Then?"

"What happened then," Continued the blonde girl, "is that the second layer of command directly under her merely took direct control. They already made the day to day decisions, after all, a single person cannot oversee the totality of the operations that are carried on a daily basis. So they casually mentioned that, should one not accept to keep working for them in the game, they may suddenly find completely legitimate and reasonable reasons for the salaries of the dissidents to be reduced, if you get what I mean."

"Wait, are you saying that the Magic Side was involved in the creation of the game?!"

"Didn't you know? It is said that the idea first appeared in a conversation between leaders of Academy City and our Church."

"I didn't know… Not like it changes anything. You guys are everywhere, just like co… Never mind."

"What were you about to say? Mhmm?

"A-Anyway, weren't you guys magicians? Didn't your goals take priority before the orders of the Church?"

"Well, yes." Easily assented the blonde girl with a disinterested shrug. "But most of the time, the interests of the cabal or Church are the same as the magicians', so there's no real need to purposely go against the orders inside the game. It isn't like we don't have plenty of free time. You just need to think of it as working abroad, and it's just another part of work."

"Huh… One last question then."

Kamijou Touma took a deep breath and prepared his mind. This is it, he thought. Here it comes. He looked Kanzaki in the eye, and then he asked, loud and clear.

"WHY ME?!"

"H-Huh…?"

"I'm not a part of the Church, right?! I'm not! Even if I've been dragged more times than I can count into messes way above my weight category, I'm supposed to be a member of the Science Side, right?! So why are you dragging me into these "missions" in my precious free time when I finally managed to escape from Komoe-sensei's hellish extra lessons?!"

"Ah… Um…"

Strangely, Kanzaki started to fidget and blush. She kept her line of sight fixed to the floor, but sneaked peeks to his face from time to time. When she spoke, she stuttered and her voice sounded weak.

"The truth is…Y-You are someone to whom I owe a great personal debt. S-So… I-I thought that, if I took you with us out of town during your free time when I wouldn't bother you, t-then maybe, maybe I'd be able to reduce the debt a bit…"

A truly awkward silence followed. The two men didn't have the heart to tell anything to the older woman, who was still fretting in place. Finally, it was the Tour Guide again who gave voice to their thoughts.

"U-Uhm… If you take him with you when you go on missions, which are technically your job, then he is the one who is helping you, right?"

Suddenly, Kanzaki went very, very still. Still, maybe because of foolhardy or maybe because of the inherent braveness that comes with youth, the blonde assistant went ahead and gave the final blow.

" _In other words, aren't you increasing the amount of debt you owe him?_ "

Both Kamijou and the Jeans Shop Owner, both a little older and therefore both a little less inexperienced with the world, awaited with bated breath and, respectively, a raised right hand and a ward for the reaction of the well-intentioned girl whose very self had been shaken. Said girl was still petrified and terrifyingly quiet. Slowly, her lips started to move.

"."

The two men looked at one another and concentrated. If they sharpened their hearing, they could barely make out some words.

"-do."

""?""

"TSUCHIMIKADOOOOOOO! YOU ARE DEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAD!"

* * *

 **And there! It turned into a talking fic this time. It could probably pass as a sitcom scene if you stretch it. I mean, one place, comedy, lots of talking... They'll need to work the angle, though, since it looks like it'd be cramped in there. Next time, the mission!**

 **See ya!**

* * *

 **OMAKE**

After Kanzaki's homicidal rage passed, they ran out of topics to converse. Wanting to start some small chat, the Jeans Shop Owner was the first to break the ice.

"Hey, you know that one where a bus guide, a christian martyr and a shop employee enter a bar and..."

He couldn't keep talking, because he found the tip of a sword resting next to his throat. From the other end of the weapon came two deadpan words:

"STOP IT."

The Tour Guide whispered to Kamijou:

"If I remember right, her group was born because they wanted to protect Japanese traditions when they were driven to exile, but I think it's too late for her to go back. That sentence was so wonderfully British."


	18. Chapter 17 - Discovery

**Hey there!**

 **Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2018 will be filled with a lot of happiness, joy and Index III for all of you.**

 **WOOO! Over three hundred follows! Thank you very much! You guys rock!**

 **Now then. Let's get to the thick of things.**

 **Dragon Rider 66: I can do nothing about the monokini scene, since Kanzaki's probably too shy. It would all come down to Tsuchimikado and his bullying, but we all know she's not that gullible and that something like that would never happen... right?**

 **Kuroppy: Congratulations! For choosing the correct answer, you have won a sense of futility as no matter how many efforts you summon forth, the number of things you want to read and play are never ending... C'mon. Let's go cry together at a corner, my comrade.**

 **Guest: Welcome! Welcome all, new readers. About the introductions in chapter 17, I don't know who exactly you're referring to, but both characters introduced are simply called "Tour Guide" and "Jeans Shop Owner" in the LN, so I can't really introduce them more than this.**

 **Markoz89: Binevenido de vuelta, lector hispanohablante. En lo que se refiere a los personajes que mencionas, el tiempo dirá lo que tiene que pasar (manera bonita de decir que no te puedo adelantar spoilers, lo siento). Si miras la fecha del dia de actualización de este capítulo verás que, excepto en el caso que todos los relojes, móbiles y ordenadores de mi casa estén fallando al mismo tiempo, a día de hoy estamos, efectivamente, en 2018. No se que clase de 6o sentido tenéis tu y mis otros lectores, que repetidamente colgáis un comentario justo el mismo día que voy a actualizar.**

 **Some (okay, a great part) of the comments were along the lines or made reference to something like: "Yeah, the chapter's nice n'all, but get it out faster". I'll try. I'll try. No promises though. It'd be worse if I gave my word and failed to deliver. I'll just do what I can and hope for the best.**

 **In an update of the after-comment shrine that I've been mentioning for a couple chapters now, Christmas happened, so I'm not sure if the money I asked for counts. What should I ask for next? Good grades for my exams?**

 **Last comment before we get to the chapter. Both the characters introduced in the previous chapter and the one that'll come out next in this one are from the official spin-off Kanzaki SS, which consists in a series of short stories following our favorite Saint. I recommend reading it, especially chapter 3, if you're interested in the background of the character that will appear. The chapters are quite short, so it doesn't take much time. That said, I tried my best to include all the important and relevant information for those of you who can't or don't want to do so, either because of lack of time (in which case I'm grateful you take the time to read this story) or lack of motivation (in which case get to work, you lazy bums).**

 **That's all. Hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 17 - Discovery

That same day, after Kanzaki's maiden heart had healed somewhat, Kamijou logged off the game to find that both of his freeloaders had yet to do the same. He then received a call from Hamazura informing him of how the afternoon had gone for his newfound childhood acquaintances. He belatedly realized that maybe he hadn't chosen the best person for the job, since it appeared that all the hang-out spots the blonde knew were either Skill-Out gathering places, dumping points for thief groups, and other such locations of dubious utility, so it seemed the route had degenerated into a gourmet tour of less-known back-alleys shops. "Still, they seemed pretty happy with it.", was what the delinquent told him. He also explained that the quintet had decided to follow the traditional program and visit the recommended schools like all the other visitors would, so they wouldn't be meeting him at class next day.

That left as the only important events tomorrow morning to endure the stares caused by the rumors that a certain blonde spy had taken to spread among his class and, when he came to gloat, give him a "I-know-you're-trying-to-mess-with-me-but-since-your-fate-is-going-to-be-much-worse-than-mine-I-won't-bother-to-rise-up" smirk, and observe with interest how he appeared confused until realization dawned on him and he started to sweat bullets and pale. The remaining school hours proved to be quite peaceful for the spiky-haired boy.

And so, he arrived smoothly to the promised time when he was supposed to meet with Kanzaki & Friends.

Except he didn't.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SHE WILL BE LATEEEEEEE?!"

"Err, something about being so ashamed she couldn't look you in the eye, so she needed time to prepare her mind?"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT! SHE WAS THE ONLY REASON MONSTERS DIDN'T COME LAST TIME! AND EVEN THEN IT WAS A FLUKE THAT WE LASTED SO LONG! NO, MAYBE IT WAS A PRELUDE LEADING TO THIS?! TO GIVE US A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY! I KNEW MY LUCK COULDN'T BE THAT GOOD!"

"Hey, calm down for now. We've been here for a while before you connected, you know? And we haven't been attacked yet. According to our info, not that many monsters live in this area."

"DO YOU HAVE EYES ON YOUR FACE?! DO THE TWISTED TREES, OMINOUS MIST, SWAMPY LAND AND STRANGE HOWLS NOT CLUE YOU IN?! AT THIS RATE IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL- oh."

"Mmh?"

"What's up?"

Seeing the boy who was freaking out a second ago calm down mid-rant and sit properly as if his outburst never happened, both the Jeans Shop Owner and the Tour Guide became curious. They were answered with an incredulous stare.

"Really? You don't hear it?"

And, upon being mentioned, both mages became aware of a regular, dangerously close sound that resembled jagged breaths, or maybe incredibly low wheezes.

"Is it coming from the right?"

"No, this way."

The Tour Girl turned to peer through the curtains of her window to try and locate the anomaly, but was dismissed by the Jeans Shop Owner, who was doing the exact same thing from the opposite seat. Kamijou, who was sitting in front of them, provided the answer.

"It's both."

The magic side representatives didn't have time to ask what he meant before the roof of the carriage was violently ripped off, sending the horses in a frantic frenzy forward. As the driver desperately worked to try and regain control, the passengers were barely able to see through the hole how a bulky shadow disappeared back again into the mist, left behind by their newfound speed.

"W-what was that?!"

"A monster, I presume."

"I can see that! Why didn't we notice it until so late?!"

"The obvious answer would be that it has stealth capabilities, but we must also consider the sense impairment associated to the environment. The fog bars what poor vision we'd have through the curtains, and the topography and trees probably block a great chunk of the sound. And for something as big as that, we'd normally notice because of the tremors its weight would cause each time it moves, but even those would be absorbed by the suspension. I guess being comfortable has its downsides."

"Right… but that doesn't explain why the horses didn't react until we had it breathing down our necks."

"That's a good point… Maybe it can conceal its presence after all?"

"Why are you two so calm?!"

The Tour Guide finally was incapable of bearing any more with the leisurely attitude of the two males in the now open-air ride. The spiky-haired young man didn't bother to answer, and seemed to still be thinking on his previous analysis and trying to hypothesize why their horses, who in addition to being animals and therefore more sensitive than humans were vastly more experienced in traveling lands infested by monsters, hadn't started panicking until the first attack struck. The Jeans Shop Owner, in contrast, regarded her with a neutral look.

"Panicking won't do us any good. It's more productive to determine how exactly we were caught off guard so it doesn't happen again. Take deep breaths and think back. Every piece of information is important."

"…Alright." The younger girl heeded her senior's advice, closed her eyes and tried sucking in a mouthful of air. After some seconds, when she felt her heartrate start to calm down and some of the agitation leave her mind, she opened them again.

"Good." Complimented the older man. "Now, let's go over the facts. We can discard any kind of magical creature. No matter how good its stealth is, I'd have detected a bit of mana during the moment of the strike. There was none, which means the attack was fueled by purely physical force. That eliminates the possibility of a normal magician, since causing that much force with self-reinforcement is outside the scope of almost everyone barring a very small handful of elites like, say, Saints."

"But any magician with that much ability would choose a more efficient method." Followed the Tour Guide. "Not to mention, the first strike was wasted, and with it the element of surprise. It doesn't add up."

"Which is why we can safely discard the possibility of a human enemy. That leaves us with monsters, which fit most of the facts that we have. They can be big, fast and strong enough to pull of that blitzkrieg assault, and they don't have enough rationality to look for weak points. If there was something in the way between it and its prey, they'd tear it apart."

"Wait a second, supposing that is true, the obstacle to its prey was the ceiling. Are we dealing with a flying monster?"

"Could be. Or maybe it's just that big. What do you think?"

Arriving at an impasse, the senior member of the trio turned to the one who hadn't been participating in the conversation. The boy's answer was succinct.

"It's a dog."

"A dog? That doesn't make any sense." Rebuked the Tour Guide. "It has none of the characteristics we were talking about. They are not suited to stealth like cats, owls or chameleons, and they don't run fast enough to keep up with horses nor can they fly, so it wouldn't have had any way to attack the ceiling."

"It would, if it was big enough that the carriage could pass perfectly between its legs."

"Keep in mind," the Jeans Shop Owner reminded the young girl, "that it's a monster we're talking about, and not a pure animal. There could be a dog big and silent enough to do what we're saying. There's probably a reason he suggested what he did, so let's work with that hypothesis for now. Dogs are gregarious, social animals. Feral dogs usually hunt alone, but do you think that we could be facing a pack? It would explain the sounds we heard before the attack coming from different directions."

It was a sound reasoning. Discarding the fear of potentially having to confront a pack of giant, super-strong, silent assassin pups for a second, the Tour Guide looked expectantly at the boy, but he was shaking his spiky head.

"No, there's only one." Seeing his interlocutor begin to frown, he raised a hand to indicate he wasn't done yet. "The reason his breathing and attack came from different directions is that the dog has three heads."

"Hmm. Kerberos, huh?"

"What?"

"Kerberos is the three-headed dog of the underworld in Greek mythology." Jumped the blond girl at the chance, eager to prove her knowledge. "It guarded the door to the afterlife, and it made sure that no living entered and no dead escaped."

"Perhaps you know of its most common variant Cerberus." Added the Jeans Shop Owner.

"Ooh, right. That name rings a bell. Yeah, that's what I was talking about. Luckily it seems this one can't breathe fire or any other fancy tricks."

The Tour Guide stopped the urge to retort and ask from where had the image of a dog with such a dragon-like ability come from when the older man raised a hand.

"From videogames." He answered the unasked question, and she had to roll her eyes at that. Everything seemed to revolve around the stupid machines these days.

"Anyway," the older man continued, unperturbed, "we have been entertaining your theory until now, but the most crucial thing is lacking. There's no proof."

"Hmm? Oh, that." The boy lowered his eyes a bit. The girl noticed his vision had been wandering up and down during the whole conversation. "It's nothing much, y'see. I can see it up right there."

"What are you talking abou… no way."

Slowly, with a sinking feeling in their stomach, both passengers became suddenly aware of the heavy breathing noises coming from right behind their heads. Becoming too engrossed in theorizing seemed to have the unfortunate side effect of missing obvious cues, but it wasn't that difficult a task to put two and two together in their present situation.

So they almost managed not to scream when they turned around and found three pair of eyes staring straight at them, each on top of a mouth big enough to swallow them whole and so full of teeth they got dizzy at the mere prospect of counting them.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH?! SINCE WHEN HAS THIS THING BEEN HERE?!"

"It's been following us for a while. I'm not sure exactly why he hasn't pounded yet. Think it's that blessing thing? To protect the driver and the horses and all that?"

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?! IT'S FLEXING ITS LEGS! IT'S GOING TO JUMP! IT'S COMING! I CAN SEE IT IN ITS EYES!"

"NOOOOOOOOO! STOPSTOPSTOPSTOP! I DON'T TASTE GOOD! JEANS DON'T TASTE GOOD! I TRIED!"

"You tried?! Just how far has your dedication to jeans gone…"

The young girl continued to make a ruckus, but upon hearing the somewhat amazed voice of the boy, the Jeans Shop Owner managed to regain a bit of his sanity.

"Ohhh… I see! Boy! You have a plan, don't you? Hey, girlie, come back! We don't have to be eaten yet!"

"WAH! WAH! WAAAA- eh? Really?! Ooooh!"

"As would be expected of a world-renowned heavy-weight influential fighter! Now, boy, share with us! What's our course of action?"

"Ah…" Mildly embarrassed, the teenager rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled ruefully. "I don't have anything fancy like that, really. You're overestimating me."

"Now, now, don't play hardball with us, boy. I could recognize the signs anywhere. That composure, that calm, that aplomb! Those are the eyes of someone who knows exactly what to do!"

"Are you familiar with the concept of sniping?"

This non-sequitur managed to startle the Jean Shop Owner enough to stop his ramblings, and the spiky-haired boy took the chance to explain his point.

"Obviously, there's the meaning of a one-hit kill from a long distance, but in games it can also refer to a surgical, precise strike. For example, it can be done against a boss who is many levels above you to shave at his health little by little. You get one hit in and retreat immediately. That tactic is usually done by different teams who coordinate between themselves to manage the aggro so no one holds it for too long, since usually a boss that much stronger tends to kill you rather easily."

The Tour Guide, who had no idea what was going on, scratched her head.

"What does that have to do with the extra-headed doggie…?"

"I'm getting to that. What I talked about is more or less common on normal games, but now that we're in a VR there's another way. A person could, theoretically, connect, take a shot at a monster, and immediately disconnect to avoid retaliation. If repeated enough times, this should be a relatively risk-free way to dispatch anything. The rule that says that one cannot connect for an hour after disconnecting is a good way to avoid players from abusing the system mechanics in the short term by banning the disappearance for a few seconds as a dodge, but it isn't so effective when it comes to long-term planning."

"So…?"

"So," concluded Kamijou, with a peaceful smile, "the developers introduced a second ban. Specifically, when a player connects, he is barred from leaving the game for the next ten minutes."

"Wait…"

A chill traveled though the Jeans Shop Owner as his mind naturally reached the conclusion the out of left field explanation was moving towards. The Tour Guide didn't connect the dots as fast, but she felt an ominous sense of foreboding all the same.

With the smile of someone who had made peace with the world, Buddha Kamijou gave the punchline.

"It has been about six minutes since I arrived. You two can still disconnect now, but it won't work for me. Ha ha ha. Misfortune will reach me no matter how fast I run, so sometimes it's better to be calm like a lake's surface and accept everything without a fight. It will be less painful this way."

"CRAP! THIS DAMN GUY IS WORSE THAN US! HE'S ALREADY GIVEN UP! HEY! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, MR. WORLD FIGHTER!"

"WAH! WAH! WAH!"

Maybe it was because the loud noises intensified all of a sudden, maybe it was because he was creeped by the boy who maintained exactly the same smile even when he was being intensely shaken back and forth by the older man, or maybe it was because he was annoyed that the girl had regressed to how she was a minute ago by complaining to the world via imitating a two-year-old's cries for food, but the beast that had been until that point happily trailing after them as any friendly dog would chose that moment to throw itself at the trio.

"WAH! WA- **IT'S COMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!** "

In the wake of the collision, the Tour Guide, with a teary face and a runny nose worthy of the kids she was trying her hardest to imitate, suddenly vanished, leaving behind a simmering white silhouette in the air that disappeared after a few seconds.

"She left."

Bathed in the aura of acceptance, enlightened Kamijou watched over the departing girl who had stayed true to the fight-or-flight reaction with a warm gaze.

"This isn't the time for that, boy! HOLD TIGHT!"

"Mmm?"

With a peaceful smile on his face, the spiky-haired boy turned just in time to see the Jeans Shop Owner clinging to his seat as hard as he could.

He still wore that same smile when the collision of the monster with the carriage catapulted him through the air and into the nearest marsh. Unfortunately, his tickets for Nirvana were lost during his flight, so the feeling of cold and murky water became an excellent awakener to the reality of his situation.

"THIS IS COLD! AND DIRTY! AND THE MUD'S -bleaaargh- GETTING IN MY MOUTH! SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

Off in the distance, the horses persisted in their mad dash, dragging the remains of the broken coach where the Jean Shop Owner was still clinging for dear life.

Touma frowned. That made the brown water that was dripping from his miraculously still spiky hair down onto his face follow strange patterns that made him seem a little bit on the gone side, but he didn't realize that. He was too busy trying to get out of the water and back onto dry land, and figure out what the sense of incongruence he had was.

Right. That was it. Where had the three-for-one wonder gone?

The calculations didn't even took a second. Missing potentially deadly monster + misfortune = very bad prospects. Kamijou didn't waste the time to search for it.

He bolted away.

* * *

In retrospect, running around in an unknown forest wasn't the brightest of decisions.

(Have I been going in circles for the last 10 minutes?)

The young man went over his options. What to do when lost in a forest?

Tip 1: Before you go, plan your trip.

(Ha ha. That's a good one. My life's story may be synonym with "unexpected" by this point.)

Tip 2: Before you go, let others know where you are going.

(Problem 2, they already know, but can't do anything about it.)

Tip 3: Retrace your steps.

(Except that traveling inside a comfortable coach makes it impossible to see where you are passing through.)

Tip 4: Showcase your location.

(I'm going to take a wild guess and say that whoever wrote the tips didn't take into account monsters when he formulated those.)

Tip 5: Find a source of water.

He looked around, to the muddy puddles that littered the floor all around. Then he looked down, to his still drenched robes.

(Plenty of water around. None of it drinkable.)

Tip 6: Start a fire.

(With what, huh? There's so much humidity and fog that any wood or lumber will be too moist to burn. Besides, it would give away my position all the same.)

Tip 7: Build a shelter.

(Again, with what? There's absolutely nothing around!)

Tip 8: Don't stop thinking, moron.

(What do you think I'm doing right now, huh? And what's with that overbearing tone?!)

Tip 9: Whatever happens, keep a positive attitude!

(Get lost!)

Luckily(!), there was no one around to witness the high school boy getting mad at his own imagination. However, getting riled up worked to the boy's detriment. The most important tip, before the pre-trip preparations, the need for water, food and shelter and the methods to get in contact with other people (codenamed Tip 0), was to keep a calm head at all times. He seemed to have forgotten that.

That's why he didn't notice that in the direction his feet were taking him to, the fog was becoming increasingly denser, and the trees more twisted.

He didn't realise until he heard the voice speak.

"Leave, intruder."

Halting his steps, Lone Wanderer Kamijou looked around, but the mist had reduced his field of vision to about 5 meters, so he couldn't see much.

"Must be my imagination."

He resumed his strides. He still didn't know where he was going, but he figured that to keep moving would be better than staying in one place, lest the monsters found him.

"Intruder. Leave."

"Really though, why does my inner voice sound like a young girl? It even has a nice ring. Good job, me."

"Leave, now."

"But wait. If it is my imagination, it must be based on someone I know. Who inspired this? Kanzaki? Nah, her way of speaking is way too formal. Index? Too true to her desires. Othinus? Too condescending, I guess?"

"Intruder, leave now."

"Mhmm… Biribiri sounds too aggressive, Lessar too forward, Birdway too haughty, Imouto too emotionless, Orianna-san too sexy, Orsola-san too forgetful, Cromwell-san too wild, Fremea too childish, Fukyiose too straight-laced, Himegami too quiet, Itsuwa too timid, Marian too passionate, Arisa too sweet, Shutaura too stern, Carissa too dignified, Agnese too prideful, Nephthys too detached, Cendrilion too foreigner, Sasha too quirky, Gabriel too otherworldly… Wait, that last one didn't even speak human."

"How many girls do you… Ah, that's not it. Intruder. Leave at once."

"Otohime sounds too attached, Saflee-san too playful, Ureapaddy too focused, Sotzy too concerned, Yomikawa-sensei too carefree, Komoe-sensei too adult-ish(?), Maika too maid-ish, the Tour Guide too inexperienced(?!)… By the way, your next words are going to be something like "Leave or face the consequences"."

"Leave now or be ready to face the… huh?"

"Really. How cliché can I get?"

The mist had gotten thicker, so his field of vision was getting narrower, but Kamijou figured that since he couldn't see, monsters couldn't either, so he continued to stroll without a care in the world. His own smell had been camouflaged earlier when he fell into the water, and sound didn't travel well in that environment, so he felt relatively safe.

"Ummm… Where was I… The ojou-sama's from Tokiwadai… the nuns of Agnese's unit… It doesn't really fit, right? Who else could it be?"

"There's still more…?"

"Ah, whatever. Now that I think about it, you could have simply been made as a combination of any of the above. It sounds pretty legit. Maybe I do have a creative talent after all."

"I am NOT a product of your imagination!"

Finally (finally!) the voice gave the retort Kamijou was waiting for all this time, and the boy smirked. Just as he had been expecting. One more proof that he was imagining everything.

"C'mon, me. You're better than this. It's pointless to go against the obvious. As if one could have an encounter with a girl with a cute voice in a place like this."

"Intruder! Leave now, or a great misfortune shall befall you!"

If that was supposed to be intimidating, the voice wasn't doing a very good job at it. Kamijou snorted.

"So? Might as well tell me that if I take another step, the sun will rise up at dawn from the East, an apple will fall down if you let it go, or that any food you leave in sight of Index in a 5-meter radius will disappear in the following 5 seconds. They have the same degree of inevitability to them, or rather, it's like the natural state of things."

"This is your last warning, intruder! Leave!"

"Right, right. I would if I knew how, you know. Why do you think I am walking aimlessly like this, huh? I shouldn't have to explain this sort of obviousness to myself. Is this one of those cases where describing aloud the situation is going to make it easier to see the obvious solution you have been ignoring all this while? Wait, I think I see something."

A faint outline had begun to be visible through the fog. Kamijou moved in its general direction, avoiding puddles whenever possible. As he got nearer, he began to distinguish more of the structure.

Tall walls made of stone, with obscured windows at regular intervals that didn't let any glimpse of the interior pass. A square keep that towered over it all.

Moving closer, he began to see more. A wall rounded the complex, with watchtowers at the corners and smaller tower-like structures erected at either side of a drawbridge, that presided over a moat filled with water.

The mist hadn't stopped becoming denser, and by now it was so thick Kamijou could physically feel it washing over him, but he had drawn so close that he could see everything in detail.

The impact of seeing a castle in this out-of-place corner of a cursed forest didn't cause as much of an impact as it probably should have, in part because it had been revealed gradually and the boy already had formed an idea of what was in store for him much earlier, and in part because an abandoned fortress fitted the scenery so much.

None of it, though, attracted his attention as much as the small figure in front of him.

Standing in front of the lowered bridge, as if guarding the door, was a girl of young age, with a very slim body line, long blonde hair, green eyes, white skin and, most important of all, long, narrow ears that marked her as a non-human. Light Novel Reader Kamijou's mind went blank when he realized what that meant. His thoughts shot straight to the fantasy race that possessed that feature.

"Elf…?"

"I am an Alfar, intruder. Elf is the word your race gave the imagined beings that were inspired from us."

"No… It can't be!"

Kamijou fell to his knees. Unable to endure his weight, his body fell forward, prostrating him.

"Intruder. Leave at once… What's wrong?"

"Elves… Elves are not supposed to be like you!"

"What?"

"You're blonde, fine. You're fair-skinned, all good. You live in a forest, everything's correct. But elves are supposed to be century-old voluptuous maidens! Elusive girls who are too shy to come into contact with humans because they live in seclusion! You're not supposed to be the ominous voice that warns intruders! I _could_ accept a guardian of the forest role, but get yourself a bow and arrows at least!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, and how many stupid clichés are you going to mix at random? Anyway…"

Her next sentence was lost amidst the abrupt rumbling that suddenly pervaded everything around them. At first glance, it seemed even the castle was trembling, but a calmer inspection revealed that it was the fog what was moving strangely.

"What's that, miss fake-elf?"

"Again, I'm an Alfar. And… That's probably coming from _that_ monster."

" _That_ monster? With _italics_ and all?"

"Yes. The one that lives in the moat."

"A monster that lives in the moat?"

"Exactly. Could you stop repeating everything I say? It normally sleeps, but it seems your unfamiliar presence awakened him."

"Oh, man. Is it because that guardian of the forest thing I said? Did I jinx it?"

"Anyway, we're done for." The elf suddenly sighed. "Usually I'm inside the castle, but that thing wouldn't hesitate to attack me, and there's no way we can outrun it. That doesn't change that you need to leave, as soon as possible." She gave him a pointed look. "Great misfortune awaits you if you persist in exploring this place any further."

"You said that already. Are you stupid? What's the point of the sapling trying to brag in front of the master?"

"?"

The conversation couldn't proceed any further, because from below the water of the moat, from behind the mist, _that_ thing came.

It was a scorpion. And a very big one at that, even when compared to the ones the boy had seen in the desert. It was at least four meters tall, with a tail almost as long as its body. Instead of the sand brown of its desert kind, its color was more reddish, though it conserved the wicked purple glint in the sting.

Or at least that was what Kamijou thought, until he noticed how the origin of the fog's strange patterns originated from its body.

"Holy shit… Don't tell me it's _radiating_ heat?! Is the entire forest covered in mist because of that thing?!"

"Didn't you find it strange? How there was so much fog around despite being completely at odds with the natural climate?"

Kamijou was, at the moment, quite drenched from head to toe. He had assumed that it was the normal consequence of walking inside the fog for so long, but maybe that was masking the sweating? If he thought about it, then it seemed the temperature really had been going up the closer he got to the castle.

"Now that you mention it… Wait, now's not the time to explain!"

Meanwhile, the scorpion had gotten out of the water and onto the ground, and was starting to walk towards them.

"Leave, intruder. Maybe you will be able to escape while it's focused on me."

"Hahaha…"

"?"

Moving her sights from the monster for an instant, the elf was surprised to find the completely normal teenager smiling against the danger.

"To think I would be forced to unleash this move twice… Not bad, virtual world. I shall commend you."

(Has he gone crazy from fear?)

"Here we go!" The loud sound made the monster pause for a second, which the confident warrior used to take a step closer to his opponent. "Kamijou-style, secret move: RUN AWAY!"

And just like that, his right hand grabbed the arm of the elf to whom he had drawn closer with his earlier step and started to rush back from whence he came.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Run, you destroyer of dreams! Run!"

"Are you crazy?! There's no way we can outrun _that_ thing! Every step of his covers more ground than several of ours!"

"And that's why we won't simply run. We just need to get far enough that it doesn't detect us for a little while."

After two minutes of frantic tripping with roots and sinking ankle deep in a bunch of poodles, the boy finally relented and slowed his mad dash.

"We don't have much time. I can still feel the heat behind, so whatever its reason is, it's still following us."

"It doesn't need a reason."

"Although I am curious, I will keep my questions in line until we've dodged _that_ thing."

The blond girl studied the boy, who seemed to be searching for something. A distant noise that sounded suspiciously close to "boom" made her nervously turn her head back.

"I think this one will do. Come here."

"?"

Hesitatingly, she approached the location where the boy had crouched and was checking something. At first glance, all she saw was an ordinary puddle, and a relatively small one at that. Nothing in particular seemed to distinguish it from the multiple others that littered the landscape as far as the mist allowed them to see.

"How is this going to help…"

"In you go."

The poor elf didn't have time to react when Kamijou grabbed her once more and stepped forward right into the pond, sinking waist deep with the first stride. Another two quick movements, and all that remained at the surface was their heads.

"Umm, why are we doing this…?"

"Shh."

Moving a finger to his lips to indicate that she shouldn't speak so loud, the boy explained in a low voice.

"First off, _that_ thing is a desert scorpion, right? Though I have no idea how he got here or why it's got such an insane stove vocation."

"Yes, I think it should be." Replied in an equally low tone the Alfar. "As for the second question… It's my fault."

"Desert scorpions don't rely on sight or smell to hunt, but vibrations. Each of its eight legs can detect even a grain of sand moving in its search radius. And since our moving heater is that big, its radius is probably bigger than a usual one as well."

"Oh." She started to understand. "That's why we…"

"Right. They're supposed to be _desert_ scorpions, so how that works outside a sand environment is unknown to me, so we have no choice but take a leap of faith and work with the assumption that it works on land the same as in sand. If that's how it goes, then being submerged in water and staying as still as possible should make him unable to detect us. The only problem was getting far enough of its radius so it doesn't notice how we suddenly vanish from its radar."

"And that's why we ran?"

"Yep."

"You seem to know a lot about them."

"Well… I looked up a bit of trivia over the Internet after my first meeting with the species. Though that was in the desert."

He wrapped his arms around himself and tried to contain his trembling. The water was not cold, but it wasn't warm, either. And he preferred not to risk if the thing's sensitivity was enough to pick unusual waves crashing in the shore of a puddle, so remaining as still as possible was a good thing to do. The Alfar seemed to notice and tried to stop moving as much too.

Another one of those booms sounded in the distance, though it appeared to be closer than before. If that meant the scorpion was inching closer, it wasn't good news, but there was nothing they could do.

"Alright. Your turn."

"Mm?"

"You said it didn't need a reason to search for us?"

"Well, no. Since it's a monster. Attacking people is what monsters do."

Kamijou felt the urge to facepalm at the obnoxiously obvious answer, but the booming sounds were growing ever closer and he couldn't raise his arms from under the water because it might create ripples in the surface. Instead, his mind traveled to another comment the girl had made a few minutes before.

"Hey, didn't you say before that how it got here was your fault? What was that about?"

"That…" The Alfar sighed, and fell in silence for a while, seemingly debating with herself how to best approach the question. Finally, with a certain hesitation, she opened her mouth.

"It's not that unusual for a monster from the hot region to wander by chance into the forest. The transition between both environments is quite fast, after all. They normally walk around for a bit, but end up coming back to where they're used to live. The problem…" She chewed her lip, still pondering, but finally went ahead. "The problem lies with myself." She confessed.

She was expecting a raised eyebrow along with some incredulity, maybe some blame if the boy trusted what she said at face fault, and in any case, demands for more information, seeing as it'd be her fault that they were in this situation to begin with if what she claimed was true. Instead, he merely sank more into the water, eyes wide, until only his nose was still above the surface. He moved his eyes to urge her to do the same, and she acquiesced.

Since her mouth was now under the water level, she used her eyes instead to ask him what happened, and in response he stared meaningfully behind her. Slowly, so as not to agitate the water too much, she rotated her body gradually, only to let out a startled gasp when she came face to leg with the scorpion. Thankfully, the water prevented any real sound to come out, but she still wanted to kick herself for not noticing how the fog had become a bit denser.

Still, they were very near the monster since the beginning, so it wasn't that strange not to notice it. In stark contrast, the warming of the water she was submerged in couldn't have been more obvious.

She looked back at the boy, who gave her a grim nod, having come to the same conclusion as she had. There was nothing they could do. The monster didn't know exactly where they were, or they would have already become mincemeat by now. However, its mere presence would raise the surrounding temperature forcefully, eventually boiling them alive.

Everything depended on how much the scorpion wanted to kill them. Even if it didn't know exactly were they were hiding, it was still aware of the general area, so if it persisted in its search, they were dead, regardless of whether it actually found them or not.

On the other hand, if it gave up and went back, they'd be able to leave without any other major hassle. Unfortunately, it seemed the beast was feeling tenacious today, so they wouldn't have such luck.

Another one of those booms went off. It came from farther off in the mist, but it was significantly louder than all the others. Come to think of it, if the scorpion wasn't the reason for them, what was its cause? Sneaking a glance without letting the monster out of her view, she found that her spiky-haired companion had raised his head a bit, freeing both his ears from the dampening effect of the water, and had closed his eyes in concentration.

Another sound went off. This one was actually a bit farther than the others. Then another, and another, whatever was producing them seemingly moving away from their position.

The young girl didn't know if that was good or bad, since the giant furnace monster was still nearby and the water's temperature was starting to reach dangerous levels of hot, but didn't have the time to consider, because right at that moment, the boy raised his head and shouted "Here!" at the top of his lungs.

After that display of utter idiocy, several things happened in quick succession. The scorpion rushed in their direction, appearing from god-knows-where amidst the fog. The booming sounds started to sound closer and closer. And the boy took impulse, lunged at her, and dragged her under the water before she had a chance to take a breath.

The next few seconds were a bit blurry, but by the time she had fought her way back to the surface and taken a gulp of air, everything was over.

The monster lay in front of their little marsh, completely bisected in two from its tail to the head. Its close proximity to the water meant the place was rapidly raising in temperature, so she hurried out of it. Just behind her, she heard the boy surface.

"That was dangerous." He remarked, as he climbed and tried in vain to wring out some water from his clothes. "We should probably move away for a bit from the corpse. It's going to take a while to cool off."

"Mhmm."

The shock of witnessing the terror so easily cut in two seemed not two had worn off yet, as she assented but her feet refused to move. The boy simply took her hand and tugged her in a random direction away from the two halves.

Or maybe not that random, as someone was waiting for them a bit away. The tall woman was holding an incredibly long Japanese sword that was most probably the cause of the scorpion's demise, but the elf still didn't recognize her until the woman's eyes moved away from the boy who was saluting her with a raised hand and spotted her.

"You!"

"Ah!?"

* * *

A short while later, they had moved away from the still fuming remains of the scorpion and were going to the castle. The fog had cleared up a bit, and they hadn't run that far when they were escaping before, so the building it was already visible from their position.

"So, you two know each other?" Asked Kamijou.

"…You could say that." Responded Kanzaki Kaori, the person who had come to their rescue.

"I see now. You were the cause of those noises. The booms were produced when you broke the sound barrier to move around."

"How did you get here so fast, anyway?" The spiky-haired boy inquired. "I mean, not how in the sense you ran, but why did you come? Not that I'm not grateful."

"I entered the game not that long after you were attacked. The carriage had managed to get away and was on its way back to town, and the Jeans Shop Owner explained the situation to me, so I decided to come back as fast as I could to see if I was in time to be of help. When I arrived, I just ran around until I heard your shout."

"Oh, thanks for that. You saved us."

"No, but…" The Saint of unparalleled strength appeared dubious. "I wasn't expecting to find you. I mainly wanted to do some recon on the place for the mission. Couldn't you have just disconnected when you were in danger?"

For a second, both man and elf paused in their steps. Then, the Alfar looked to the side, ashamed, while the boy merely hanged his head and muttered "Such misfortune" under his breath.

"I forgot we had that option thanks to miss fake elf's shock."

"You are still going on with that?!"

While bickering, the trio reached the bridge. The Alfar took the initiative to cross, gesturing for the other two to follow her. Kamijou, who was still discussing with her went next, with the Saint right after.

They made their way through a deserted courtyard, which the young elf, asking as guide, informed them it was called bailey. After that, they entered a square tower, went up some narrow stairs and finally reached a wide room. Both the walls and ceiling were made of stone, but the lingering heat made it so it wasn't chilly. In the middle sat a round table with some chairs. The elf sat and motioned for the two visitors to do the same.

"…"

"…"

"…We just kinda followed the mood and came here, but what do we do now?"

"Right." The oldest woman present coughed twice to hide her embarrassment at failing to realize that, before continuing to talk. "The mission was to identify what was causing the fauna and flora of the zone to mutate, but…"

She trailed off and looked to the other female in the room, who avoided her eyes. Touma looked at the both of them alternatively, until he realized.

"Right! She said before that she was the reason that freak of an outdoors oven came here, so was your mission to look for her?" The Saint nodded slowly, and the boy turned to the elf again. "Can you explain how that works now?"

Both black-haired people were looking at her now, but the blonde remained silent. Kanzaki sighed, shaking a bit her head in understanding.

Even if Kamijou was a bit of an idiot, he wouldn't miss such obvious cues.

"So you know too? Is it some kind of Magic Side secret I'm not allowed to know of?"

"You're not a mage?"

Mildly stunned, the Alfar stared intensely at Kamijou, who huffed and crossed his arms.

"Do you think if I could do any fancy tricks I wouldn't have used them before the situation got literally too hot to handle?"

"There's a million reasons you wouldn't be able to. Attribute compatibility, lack of mana, range of the spell, or maybe the legend it's based on had some specific circumstance that could… Never mind."

The utterly lost look on the face of her logical explanations finally convinced the blonde girl that the other boy was, indeed, not connected to magic. She lowered her head to the table, placed her face between her arms, and groaned.

"Great. This only makes things more difficult…"

The teenager tilted his spiky head.

"Is something the matter?"

"Her circumstances are… complicated." Explained Kanzaki as she glanced at the other girl in sympathy. "Her existence is… unnatural, you could say. I cannot tell you more than that, as it is not my secret to tell."

"No, it's fine."

The girl raised her head and looked forward with some apprehension. Kanzaki judged her expression, before inquiring:

"Are you sure?"

"It's okay. He went out of his way to save me, putting himself in danger in doing so. He deserves at least that much sincerity."

"Even though we could have just disconnected."

"Ugh."

The remark was so on point that even Kamijou himself, who had said it, took some mental damage.

And then, perhaps because of the stimulation (why his mind worked better under pressure was because it was a necessary skill he had acquired in order to survive or because he was a bit of an M was anyone's guess at that point) the direct implications of what he just said hit him.

"You could have just disconnected… That's what Kanzaki said before. And you didn't deny it. You… Are you not from this world?"

"…"

The lack of an answer was enough of a confirmation. Mechanically, the boy turned slowly, and he looked to the Saint that would confirm the suspicions that were growing in his hearts.

"Do… Do elves exist in the real world?"

"No."

"Huh?"

For a moment, both women could almost see the interrogation signs psychically manifest on top of the boy's head.

"What? But you said…"

"There are no Alfar in our world. As far as we know, at least."

"And that's the crux of the question. The truth is, I…"

The blond girl started to say something but was unable to continue. She took a deep breath, gathered her resolve anew, and laid bare the truth.

"The truth is, I am a man-made lifeform."

"…"

"…"

The one who broke the tense silence that ensued was the boy.

"…So?"

(No reaction?)

"Are… Are you fine with that?"

"Well, yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Uh…"

"You probably don't understand, but… artificial life forms are not different from tools for most people in our line of work. Homunculi, golems, chimeras, they are usually created by convenience as a battle potential or to fill very specific roles."

"That should have been the case for me as well, but…"

Kanzaki explained with a serious air. The Alfar agreed, still half bewildered with the lack of reaction from the teenager, but her words blurred at the end. However, Kamijou didn't really seem to get what they were talking about, so she was forced to continue when he remained silent.

"I can't say I have the same experience as those beings. After all, I was too useful to be disposed of."

"? I still don't quite get why that's important here?"

"…You're right. My history really doesn't matter all that much. It's just, I haven't really made contact with anyone who's not a magician, so I assumed your reaction would be different."

"Really? How so?"

"Well… I wasn't really expecting outright hostility, or even contempt, but some sort of indifference. However you didn't change."

"Is that so. Mmm…" Kamijou looked up, thinking. "I don't know. In my case there may be some bias. I already knew some other people who were also man-made."

"Huh?"

"Huh?! I didn't know about that!"

"You haven't been to Academy City that much, so that's kind of obvious. Plus, they're from the Science Side, so I don't know if it's something I should be talking about or not."

""Other people", you say? As in plural? How many?"

Kanzaki got a minor freak out, and the young elf felt a strange sense of companionship that drove her to ask for more information.

"It's a standard 9969 package + one loli version + a busty onee-chan type, so they add app to 9971 in total. As far as I know."

"HUUUUUH?!"

"That many?! And as far as you know?! Could there be more?! Is the Science Side raising an army or something?!"

"Oh, I wonder if Kazakiri counts? She wasn't created directly, but she was born from an artificial environment, so it's indirect influence, maybe?"

"WAITWAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT!"

Kanzaki got a major freak out, and the strange sense of companionship in the elf became a strange feeling of loneliness.

Thankfully, by that point Kanzaki-san's resistance to unexpected situations had gone up by at least 5% since the day before, all thanks to Kamijou (who by the way was already close to capping at a 96% resistance, the last 4% before immunity being reserved for whatever came after the Magic Gods in the scale of freakiness), so she ended regaining her bearings in record time.

"Let's leave that aside for now. What we should do is ascertain our next course of action. The first objective, "find the reason for the changes in the forest", has been fulfilled, but as for the second one, "stop the changes", we should-"

"Question!"

Since Kanzaki became her serious self once again an took the reins of the conversation, Good-mannered Kamijou made sure to properly raise his hand before he interrupted.

"Nobody has explained to me what exactly is going on with the forest yet. I mean, you" He pointed to the Alfar, "said that it was your fault, and you" back to the Saint, "obviously agree with her, and since you knew her from before probably already knew what her circumstances are, but I'm still in the dark."

"Oh, that's right. We never really got to explain it to you, right. It's simple. Things have come to this point because of my nature."

The blonde girl took the initiative to explain.

"Your nature? As in being created and not born?"

"Exactly. Living beings evolve according to their environment. However, because of the way I was created, I am an unknown that doesn't exist anywhere in the universe. So logically, the rest of beings in the world perceive me as a threat and develop to protect themselves from me. That's why most of the changes they undergo aren't related to efficiency, but to survival. Bigger teeth, more powerful jaws, stronger legs to run faster, more poisonous toxins, better camouflage mechanisms... Everything that could help in fight or flight situations. In case of the plants, it'd be thorns, venoms, or ways to make it more difficult to access to the seeds. That's what happened in the real world."

"Wait, wait a second. Evolution isn't something that happens in the course of a lifetime. It's something that takes course over generations. Even if all you say happened, wouldn't that only affect short-lived species like insects?"

"That's why I was created. That's… my ability."

"?"

"The one who made me was a magician with a genetic defect that made him unable to use complex magic. It was impossible to treat or to cure, so he created me as a means to advance."

The high school boy started to understand.

"Then you…"

"That's right. I forcefully accelerate the rate at which living beings mutate and change. The first signs usually appear in no more than four hours. Also," She looked him in the eyes, "humans are not exempt from my influence."

"!"

Kamijou involuntarily was taken aback, but Kanzaki immediately intervened.

"Fortunately, this isn't the real world, so any changes that happen to you will disappear once you disconnect and connect back."

"For real!? Ah, I guess that makes sense. Otherwise if a monster broke a bone it'd be very boring to have to wait four months in-game to hunt again."

"However, the fact this is another world presents two different problems that we need to resolve." Continued the Saint. "The first is the monsters themselves. It is unknown how your influence affects them."

"That's easy to understand." Surprisingly, the elf had a readied answer. "It isn't much different from how animals are affected. However, there's a fundamental difference between the two." She raised a finger. "Animals are weak. Their systems do not support the changes I force them to endure. They easily die, because adapting to me makes them unable to respond to the rest of the normal environment."

"So it's like taking a monkey or a dog from the wilds, raise them in captivity and then freeing them again, so they're not used to it and can't survive?"

"More or less." She nodded to Kamijou's analogy. "But monsters are different. They're very beings are unnaturally aggressive and dangerous. From a logical standpoint they shouldn't fit anywhere in the normal environments we know of, but they manage to somehow do so anyway. The plainly don't make any sense. In their case, my presence is only a great advantage for them, since it makes them deadlier at no cost. Their systems adapt automatically to all the new upgrades, because that's what they were designed to do in the first place."

"So that's what you meant the scorpion was your fault." The high school boy laid back in his seat.

"Indeed. It was originally a normal monster that came from the desert. However, it stayed for long enough near the castle that my presence affected him enough that he couldn't leave."

Both of his listeners' expressions were expressing "Sensei, I don't understand", so she crossed her fingers on the table and organized her ideas to make it easier to make sense of.

"There are not that many mutations that an animal can acquire. It can change its size, develop a new organ, repurpose an existent one so it can gain another function, or improve on something they already had. The reason they die is because either the new or the improved organ takes too many resources to maintain, or it impairs the usage of other, more vital ones. For example, a bigger brain would make them more intelligent, but would require more food to be consumed. If the environment doesn't have enough resources to sustain the necessary intake, the animal dies. If it develops glands to segregate a toxin that needs too much energy that it doesn't have, it dies. If it develops scales so heavy they can shrug off knifes but makes the body too heavy to move, it dies. That's the kind of death I bring.

The difference between monsters and animals is that monsters specs are greater, and naturally suited to fight, so there's a less minor chance that the changes can't be sustained. If a strong monster happens to develop armored scales, it'll still have no problem moving around."

"To summarize, for a change to be something good and not bad, the animal or monster needs to be able to sustain it, which is much easier for monsters, and the environment needs to be adequate to the circumstances?"

"That's more or less it." The Alfar confirmed to Honor Student Kanzaki, who had transferred her serious mode to the academic ambit.

"So when you said it mutated and couldn't leave, you mean the scorpion changed in a way that it could leave in the forest and not the desert?"

"Exactly, very good." Receiving the approval of the teacher, rival Kamijou who didn't want to be left behind sent a smug look at the Saint, who merely blinked. "To be precise, it couldn't leave the moat."

"Oh, I see. It became that hot, so it needed to cool itself constantly or it'd melt from the inside. It's the contrary of what the cold-blooded reptiles do, when they warm themselves to the sun, right?"

"That's the conclusion I arrived at." The Alfar nodded her head at the boy's deduction. "Since I came, I haven't seen it leave for more than some hours at a time. The desert doesn't have enough water, and in the other direction there's the lake, but the air isn't as cool as in here, in the forest, so this made the best environment."

"Whatever. It's dead now, doesn't matter."

"Now that you're informed," Kanzaki took the lead once more, "I believe we should face the situation we're in. As I said, the cause is identified, but stopping the changes is another matter entirely. If the one who did it was a magician it was my duty to stop him or her, but there's no way you can do that since it happens outside of your control."

"In that case, how do you usually do it in the real world?"

"I don't." The question was innocent, and Kamijou had asked with the best intentions, but the elf's face couldn't help but darken nonetheless. "I am currently residing in a research facility in the Lake District, in complete isolation. While some items have been developed that can temporarily seal my powers, nothing conclusive has been obtained." She heaved a sigh. "It's why I requested to play the game. I was hoping this avatar wouldn't have the same problems as my real body. It turns out there was a project to allow non-humans to travel to the game, so I was allowed to participate as long as they get feedback. They were a little too successful. Being here isn't that different from there."

"But it's a game, right? You said it yourself. The effects are temporary. If the minimum time for effects to manifest is about four hours, that means you still have three or more where it doesn't matter!"

"That's not the real problem."

"Then what is?"

Instead of answering, the Alfar looked at the Saint.

"Kamijou Touma, think about it. She is a creature who doesn't exist anywhere in this world. The creatures she comes in contact with, then, carry with them the fact they have been in contact with something alien, and are consequently foreigners themselves. Evolution happens in accordance with the conditions of the environment, so if you were to come in contact with someone or something that carries that which does not belong…"

"Then, you start to evolve yourself to adapt to that other being?" Completed Kamijou with his eyes wide. "Even if it's not the original source?"

"The first time I accessed this other world, I arrived near here. After confirming that my powers were indeed still in effect, I haven't moved past a kilometer radius away from this very castle. However, you have already seen the state of the forest."

"Hold on… Then the fact every single tree is that creepy is because of you?"

"Technically speaking, they are the product of the closest beings to them, who were in turn twisted by their neighbors, but if you were to follow that trail to the source of the distortion, it would indeed lead to me."

"Do you understand now? The sort of predicament we are in? If we do nothing, the mutation wave will continue to advance until it envelops the whole world. And players might be safe, but the rest of the original inhabitants won't." The maiden sighed like a 40-year-old worker who had been dumped extra work when it was almost time to check out. "For the time being, I used a charm on the way here to inform the Jean Shop Owner of the circumstances. He's coming as we speak. He's the one who helped transport her from where we met to the facility without affecting everyone in the path, so maybe he'll have some ideas."

"If the problem would stop by simply ceasing to play, I would, but there's no point, since the moment my powers were confirmed to work my presence was unnecessary. So I have been coming to enjoy the feeling in being in the forest once more."

"Hmm… Hmmmmm…"

"Come to think of it, what happened to the people who were living in this castle before you came?"

Saint Kanzaki decided to honor her moniker by worrying about other people when it didn't matter what she did. The blonde girl smiled.

"Fortunately, I believe all are alive and well. They fled to the nearest city some time ago. I would believe they were probably the reason you heard about this place. It's very plausible they made a request to however governs this region to have the castle retaken."

"Retaken?"

"Yes. They lost it to that monster you defeated in a single blow."

"Somehow, that seems dubious. This place wasn't built in a day. They should have the means to defend against monsters, or they wouldn't even entertain the idea of building in this location."

"Oh, they were plenty capable of repelling a lone scorpion. What they defeated them was the fact the scorpion suddenly started to heat up and threatened to kill them all by heatstroke and other indirect causes. By that point, not that many trees hadn't changed, so they thought it was merely a matter of subjugating the it. They sent a strong party, but the rest of the monsters that had evolved were too much and they fled too." She brought a finger to her lips. "Come to think of it, I seem to remember they brought a monster dog to scout, but it was left behind. I wonder what happened to it." She shook her head. "Anyway, by chance, the combination of the scorpion's fog and the twisted trees created the impression that the forest was cursed so it was mostly left alone, until you came today."

"Okay, I got it."

Kamijou hadn't been attention to the discussion of the two girls, seemingly deep in thought. It was a shame, as he'd have been able to instantly point just what exactly happened with that random monster dog –namely, it grew two more heads and changed its class to ninja. As he had not, he simply informed the others of what he had thought of.

"The first thing that comes to mind is obviously my right hand, but it's not a foolproof method. I mean, it's not like I can go around the forest touching every single insect and blade of grass. And even if I somehow could, we don't even know if it could work. If it's really a natural evolution that has zero reliance on magic, it'd be useless. As for the source, I can't exactly hold her hand for four hours and checking if a flower changes or not, right?"

"Is your right hand special in some way?"

It was the Alfar's turn to raise her hand and ask a question, but Kamijou waved it away with a "That's not important right now."

"And so, we'll go with the other one. It solves both the question of what to do to the already mutated beings as well as dealing with the source with one fell swoop at the same time! I bet you could even go outside."

"Huh?"

He smiled at her.

"You said you logged in to enjoy the forest, but you haven't moved around much since you discovered what you could cause to the other people here in order not to accelerate the spread of the wave, right? I'm saying you'll be free to go anywhere!"

"R-Really?"

The young girl who had been denied other human contact fidgeted, but Kamijou was able to see the hopeful glint in her eyes, so he laughed in affirmation. Obviously, Kanzaki was also curious.

"So what is that solution of yours?"

"Not what, but who. An... I guess you could say she's an acquaintance? Anyway, she's most suited to this."

"Is it a magician you're talking about? During the days after meeting for the first time, I checked the records of the majority of known and Church-affiliated magicians that could be of help, but there were none. Is that person a rogue magician or something similar?"

"Technically, yes. Why do you ask?"

"Well… While the bracelets were distributed to the general public, among magicians it was mostly restricted to the followers of the Churches involved in its creation, so even if she really is capable of helping, in case she isn't affiliated with us, it'd be useless were she unable to obtain a bracelet and come to this other world…"

Kanzaki's concerns were certainly valid. However, she didn't know the person he was talking about, so he could refute her with confidence.

"Nah, if it's her she'd have gotten one for sure. The problem will be finding her. But don't worry."

"Do you have a method of contacting that person?"

"Not really, but I know someone who probably does. And if that fails, at worst I can always call in a favor. I mean, I won that competition, so God kinda owes me one."

"?"

* * *

 **And done! As I mentioned before, chapter 3 of Kanzaki SS: Norse Mythology is the place where the Alfar comes from. I personally like this character, even though that's the only appareance it has. Next chapter, we'll also see how that quintet of OCs from two chapters ago are doing, and we'll also find out who is the one Kamijou wants to ask help from.**

 **Can _you_ figure out who, my dear readers? Just in case you skimmed, the clues provided are: the person is a she, a magician, and unaffiliated with the Churches. Also, Kamijou considers her resourceful. Finally, my freebie for you is that there's even a bit of modern culture irony involved regarding her identity and who our hero wants to her to help.**

 **If you leave a name in your reviews, explaining why you think her powers or abilities would be useful to resolve the situation, and happen to guess correctly, I'll think of a prize for you. I'll only take in consideration the reviews and not the PM, since that makes it easier to check the order in which you guys posted. Also, I'm sorry, but I'll only consider registered accounts. I'm sorry for all the Guests, but if someone guesses correctly first with the name "Guest" and then three different people with the same username post asking for the prize, there'd be no way to determine who is in the right.**

 **That's all for today.**

 **See ya!**

* * *

 **OMAKE**

Reference time!

Cerberus - Actually, every time Fluffy (yes, that's what I call the doggy) (no, it's not a dragon) (it's my story, dammit! leave me alone!) was barking, he was actually trying to communicate! This is what he said (one for each head):

"We're at war. No one wants to admit it, but monsterkind is under attack."

"You're making a habit of costing me more than time and money."

"Strength for me is strength for monsterkind. **I _am_ monsterkind!** "

Lone Wanderer Kamijou - Tour Guide disconnected, Jeans Shop Owner escaped, and Kanzaki didn't even appear, leaving him lost in the forest.

"Who needs friends, anyway?"

And many more...


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